Eye of the Rabbit
by Sanne-chan
Summary: Sequel to EotT. Bunny Roshi’s parents have always been secretive about their past, and after a joyride with her father’s time machine, she soon finds out why! Can she and archrival Tsuru Tao make it back home alive? Or will daddy dearest kill them first?
1. The Turtle and the Crane

**A/N:** Welcome to "Eye of the Rabbit"! Though I won't stop you from jumping right in, I highly recommend reading "Eye of the Turtle" first, otherwise you probably won't understand half of what's going on. For those of you who came from DeviantART and are new to : just click on my username and then scroll down for a list of stories I've written. Go on, give it a chance: it won't take that long to read and the sequel will be right here waiting for you ;)

Enjoy!

* * *

Prologue:

"Absolutely not!!!"

"But it's efficient!"

Kameko Roshi rolled her eyes at her husband, who was honestly not seeing the problem. Kami, they had been married for five years now, but the former villain was still dense as ever.

"We are not calling our child 'One', Cell! It's a baby, not an android!"

"Well, technically it'll be half…"

Cell quickly shut up when he saw his wife's deadly glare. Buu had been a frightening opponent, but he would rather fight that creature blindfolded than undergo the wrath of an angry, four months pregnant Kameko.

"What did you have in mind then?" he asked, and her features softened a little.

"Well, we can already sense it's going to be a girl," she said, putting a hand on her stomach. "I was thinking about calling her 'Bunny', after my grandmother… I know technically speaking Bulma and I aren't even related, but her folks are still the closest thing to grandparents I have and I want to do something for them."

"Bunny Roshi… Oh well, fair enough," Cell smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Though I still think my naming system makes more sense."

_Six months later_

"I'm not sure…"

"She's _your_ daughter too, and my arms are getting stiff."

Cell awkwardly glanced at the stroller, scrunching his nose and suppressing a shudder.

"I know… but did Miss Briefs really have to buy us a pink one?"

"Oh, grow a pair, you dip."

The former android sighed, putting his hands on the handle. It didn't take long for a smile to appear on his face.

"Hey, this is… this isn't so bad," he said as they walked through the park. Kameko giggled.

"Told you so," she grinned. "Bunny likes it too, see?"

He glanced in the stroller, their daughter laughing and reaching for them with her little hands. The baby girl looked exactly like him, from her slender, sharp nose to her bright green hair. Only her eyes were different; she had gotten those brown orbs from her mother.

"Kameko, I think she wants…" he started, sweatdropping when he saw his wife was holding her sides, pointing at something and laughing hysterically.

"Ce…Cell… Oh my Kami… look over there, sitting on that bench… isn't that…? WHAHAHAHA!!!"

While she burst out in another fit of insane giggles, his database quickly recalled all available data he had on the dark-haired, slightly graying figure she had spotted. General Tao. Mercenary for hire. Briefly employed by the Red Ribbon Army and partly rebuild as a cyborg after suffering defeat at the hands of young Goku. Highly skilled in the Crane school arts and younger brother of the Crane Hermit, Master Roshi's archrival. Cell, however, could not identify the baby boy he was holding in his arms and clumsily trying to bottle-feed.

"What are you doing here, turtle wench?!" Tao barked when they walked up to him, startled that she had caught him in such a vulnerable state. "Can't I even take my son for a walk through the park without you getting in my way?!"

"As long as you're not trying to destroy anything, I won't… OH MY KAMI! HE'S _YOURS_?!" Kameko exclaimed, now laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face. "I just thought you were babysitting or something!"

"I was at a bar, had a few too many drinks and next thing you know, there's a basket with a baby inside on my doorstep, with a note that says 'I can't take care of him anymore, good luck'! I would have dumped the little brat at an orphanage, but then I realized that I will probably never find a more perfect disciple than my own flesh and blood. I will raise Tsuru to be a merciless warrior, the ultimate assassin!" He lifted the infant over his head, sticking out his tongue and making funny faces. "Who's going to be a handsome, ruthless killer when he grows up?" Tao cooed. "Yes, you are! Yes, you are!"

"Well, he sure is an adorable little fellow, considering who the father is," Kameko chuckled, trying to keep herself from snickering again. "If you ever need a babysit…"

"I AM NOT LETTING YOU OR YOUR PERVERTED FATHER'S TURTLE TEACHINGS NEAR MY SON!!!" the general yelled, protectively holding the boy with one arm and balling his free hand into a fist. "Just you wait, woman! I may be getting too old to settle our feud, but Tsuru will follow in my footsteps! He shall become stronger than even me, a master in the Crane arts, and he will crush your spawn like a fly!"

"Oh, is that so?" Cell said icily, his magenta eyes glowing dangerously. The assassin paled, a sweatdrop appearing on his temple. Though he didn't know his enemy's husband's background, he could sense that threatening his wife and daughter was probably a bad idea. With his son still in his arms, he quickly blasted off and disappeared behind the clouds.

"That nutball… I don't think he'll ever learn," Kameko shook her head. "Come on, Cell, let's go home and…" her face paled when she turned back to the stroller and found it completely empty.

"Bunny!" she panicked. "Oh Kami, our daughter! Tao must have snatched her while we weren't looking!"

"No, she's still close, I can sense her," Cell said, his eyes scanning the environment. Suddenly they heard her crying; it was very faint, as if it was coming from far away… or very high up.

"Bunny!!!" Cell exclaimed, jumping up to the top of the tallest tree in the park. There was his daughter, clinging to a branch and crying her eyes out. He quickly grabbed her and brought the girl down to the ground. She tightly clutched his neck, her bottom lip trembling and her eyes wide with fear.

"Oh, poor thing, come here," Kameko shushed, taking the child in her arms. "How on earth did she get up that tree? She can't even walk yet, let alone fly."

"I can't think of anything else than Instant Transmission," Cell said, staring at his daughter who's face was white as a sheet. "My genes must be more dominant than we originally anticipated."

"Well, I just hope this doesn't traumatize her," Kameko sighed, still cradling the terrified baby girl. "I doubt she'll remember any of this when she's older, but you never know…"

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Turtle and the Crane**

"Come on, Bunny… you can do this… you can do this!"

Slowly the girl ascended, flying three, four meters above the streets. After gathering all her courage, Bunny Roshi balled her fists, took a deep breath and peeked through one eye at the ground below. Bad move: the sixteen year old flailed her limbs and with a panicked yelp, rushed back to Earth's surface. Well, at least she hadn't fainted like last time. That meant that she was making at least some progress, right?

"Still haven't gotten your sky legs, eh, turtle girl?"

She groaned and looked up to see a raven-haired boy hover above her, sporting his trademark cocky smirk.

"Beat it, Tsuru," Bunny glared. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now. Didn't I kick your ass last week?"

"Your _parents_ kicked my ass," Tsuru corrected her smugly. "_You_ passed out when I flung you up in the sky and you made the mistake of looking down."

"Get bent, crane boy!" Bunny snapped, her face red with anger and embarrassment. "You caught me off guard, that's all! I can make you eat the pavement any day, and you know it!"

"Sure you can," he mocked in a childish, high-pitched voice. "And if you fail, you can always call for mommy and daddy to rescue you."

Bunny fumed, steam almost coming out of her ears. She desperately wanted to chase after her lifelong rival and introduce him to her fist, but then again… he was flying awfully high up…

"I might have strong parents to watch my back, but you only stand a chance against me by taking advantage of my fear of heights," she smirked, putting her hands on her hips. "You think you're such a big shot, Tsuru, but you're not so tough when it comes to hand-to-hand combat!"

"You're saying I can't beat you in a ground battle?"

"I'm saying you can't punch your way out of a wet paper bag!"

"Well, I'd love to give it a try… but I wouldn't want to upset your folks, now would I?"

Bunny glared daggers at the arrogant youth, mischievous onyx eyes staring back at her. She knew many girls at her high school would give their right kidney for a date with the elusive Tsuru Tao, but she honestly couldn't fathom why. Just the thought of walking hand in hand with that pompous jerk was enough to make her lose her lunch.

"One of these days, crane boy, I'm gonna blast that cocky grin off your face and mail it to you!" she barked. "Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but mark my words: you're roadkill!"

"Why not yesterday?"

Bunny blinked, narrowing her eyes at the general's son.

"What do you mean?"

He flew down, tucking a stray lock of black hair behind his ear. Unlike his father, he kept it relatively short and combed back, with a few loose bangs framing his face.

"I mean, why not fight yesterday? Or they day before that? Or perhaps even further into the past?"

His feet touched down on the streets, and he took something out of his pocket.

"What's this?" Bunny arched an eyebrow, warily eyeing the scrap of paper he handed her. It looked like a newspaper clipping, but it sure was an old one. The paper was all yellow and threatened to crumble under her touch. She couldn't make out the finer print, but the headline read: "Warriors worldwide prepare! 19th Tenkaichi Budokai begins tomorrow."

"The Tenkaichi Budokai, a tournament where martial artists from around the globe duke it out for the title of 'strongest under the heavens'," Tsuru said slyly. "I was thinking we could enter."

Bunny stared at the general's son as if his head had just spontaneously caught fire. She opened her mouth to protest, but Tsuru beat her to it.

"Oh, don't even think about playing dumb, turtle girl. I know Miss Briefs has invented a time machine in her younger years."

"How'd you find out about that!?"

"I have my ways," he grinned arrogantly. Oh, how she hated that cocky smirk!

"Just get to the point, crane boy," Bunny ordered. "What are you up to this time?"

"You and me. The 19th Tenkaichi Budokai. We'll fight on the ground to accommodate your ridiculous phobia, and in a time where your parents aren't even born, and thus are unable to break up our battle… or my spine, when I kill you."

"Did Tao drop you when you were little?! We're both done for if we go even _near_ grandma Bulma's time machine!" Bunny exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "She said it's for extreme emergencies only!"

"Such as?"

Bunny didn't have an answer to that. In fact, all Bulma had told her was that her son Trunks had once used it to help fight the androids in an alternate timeline and save the legendary son Goku from an early grave. But the androids in this timeline were gone now, also thanks to Trunks, and Earth had been relatively peaceful for almost fifty years. It really was a shame that their savior had died from a mutated version of the same heart virus that struck Son Goku. At least, that's what her parents had told her. Bunny always had a strange feeling that they were lying through their teeth. Especially her dad was very secretive when it came to his past. For instance, she had never seen any baby pictures of her father, or even a single photo of him as a teenager. As if his entire childhood had simply never existed. There was no trace of her paternal grandparents either, and Bunny didn't even know their family name; her father had taken his wife's last name as his own when they married. When she asked questions about him or his past, he either lied to her (she could tell) or quickly changed the subject. Bunny still loved her dad dearly nonetheless though.

"Hey, turtle girl! I asked you a question!"

"Look, crane boy," Bunny snapped. "Grandma's time machine isn't a toy! Even if I were to agree with your harebrained scheme, what if something goes wrong? We could end up changing history and preventing our own births!"

"I've got it all covered," Tsuru declared confidently. "The last Tenkaichi Budokai before the android's reign was the 23rd, when Demon King Piccolo's son destroyed the ring. We will enter the 19th edition, which is a bit more low-key. Not even your grandfather's or my uncle's students will be there, so we'll have the whole tournament pretty much to ourselves. And once we reach the finals, with the whole world watching us, we'll have one last grand battle and finally settle this tiresome feud once and for all. Or… are you afraid to fight me on your own?"

Bunny glared at the assassin's son, balling her fists.

"Ha! Bring it on, crane boy! Your ass is mine!"

"Heh, you wish my ass was yours," he smirked, making the girl blush furiously. Damn him, damn him, damn him…

"We leave tonight," she spat, narrowing her eyes. "Two AM, when everyone's asleep. Meet me at Capsule Corp, I'll open my window so you can sneak in without setting off the alarm. It's on the main floor, second one to the…"

"I _know_ where you room is, turtle girl," he snickered. "And I've been wondering: do you always sleep in the nude, or is it just a summer thing?"

Bunny's face flushed an even deeper shade of red and she let out a long and colorful string of profanities as the boy flew away, his laugh still echoing through the streets. Oh, that arrogant, pompous, son of a… She was going to grind his face in the Budokai ring and make him eat every tile of it! But first she was going to buy some supplies for the trip.

And curtains. Lots and lots of curtains.

* * *

**A/N:** Me: Oh, magic eight-ball! Is this going to end badly?

Magic eight-ball: All signs point to yes.

Me: Well, it wouldn't be much of a story otherwise, huh? I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, please let me know what you think! And as a post-chapter bonus, here are Bunny and Tsuru's character profiles. Knock yourself out!

_Bunny Roshi:_

Bunny is Cell and Kameko's sixteen year old daughter, though she only knows her father as 'Seru' and has no clue about his true nature. Bunny doesn't remember why, but she has a crippling fear of heights, even though she's perfectly able to fly.

Just as Kameko sees Bulma as a mother figure, Bunny sees the woman as her grandma, a position the scientist is happy to fulfill. Bunny was named after her great-grandmother, who unfortunately died of old age a few years after she was born. Her maternal grandfather is Master Roshi, who adores his granddaughter, but can't help perving on her female friends, much to Bunny's embarrassment. Technically, Dr. Gero is her paternal grandfather, but needless to say Cell and Kameko have wisely decided not to include his name in their family tree.

Bunny has been trained by her mother and grandpa in the style of the Turtle School. But without a looming threat and wanting her to live a normal life, they haven't pushed the girl very hard. Bunny is still far stronger than the average Earthling, but her powerlevel is only about equal to that of Captain Ginyu; much lower than Kameko's when she was her age. Cell encourages his daughter to develop her abilities, but refuses to train her himself, afraid that he'll lose control and demonstrate powers far too great to belong to an ordinary human…

_Tsuru Tao:_

Tsuru is the teenage son of General Tao and was named after his uncle, the Crane Hermit. He's only one week older than Bunny, and the two of them have been at each other's throats since kindergarten. Tsuru is very proud of his crane heritage, and aims to take his father's place as the world's greatest assassin. He often mocks Bunny for her acrophobia, and never passes up an opportunity to let her know she will, one day, die at his hands.

General Tao may have aged (though turning into a cyborg greatly prolonged his lifespan), but he has still managed to pass plenty of tricks on to his son. Tsuru inherited his father's talent for martial arts, and spends every free minute training non-stop so he may one day reclaim the honor of the Crane clan. This ruthless, self-inflicted regime, fueled by the desire to wipe out all students of the Turtle School, has allowed him to reach a level his own father couldn't even dream of. Tsuru is slightly weaker than Bunny in the area of brute strength, but far more skilled in the art of strategy. Combined with his merciless take-no-prisoners style of fighting and willingness to win at any cost, the Turtle Hermit's granddaughter often finds herself backed into a corner and relying on her parents to bail her out.


	2. Joyride

**Chapter 2: Joyride**

Bunny casted one last look at her suitcase; had she really not forgotten anything? Money, clothes, basic hygiene necessities? After all, this wasn't some lame school fieldtrip she was preparing for. She and her archrival would be travelling to the past, where they were going to enter the biggest tournament on the planet and fight to the death. Well, if Tsuru had his way, that was. Bunny would be content with beating the living crap out of him and grinding his cocky smirk into the marble.

_If I __manage to win that is,_ she couldn't help but think. She outmatched Tsuru when it came to a simple powerlevel comparison, but the crane school disciple was far more cunning and skilled. Bunny already knew this was going to be the hardest battle of her life, and this time her parents wouldn't be there to sense her distress and fly to the rescue…

_No, don__'t think like that! You're going to kick his ass, and you're going to do it on your own!_

"Bunny, dinner's almost ready!"

The girl startled when she heard her mother's voice calling her from the hallway. With one last determined nod, Bunny pressed a small button on the side of her suitcase. With a quiet 'poof!' it turned into a capsule, which she quickly pocketed before her mom could see it.

"Bunny, are you in here?"

Her bedroom door opened, a red-haired woman in her late forties standing in the doorway. People often didn't believe they were related, seeing as Bunny was the spitting image of her father. She had inherited her mother's brown eyes though, and even if her chin length hair wasn't as curly as Kameko's, there was a subtle wavy texture to it that obviously came from her side of the family.

"Oh, hey mom!" Bunny said with a voice that was just a tad too chipper. The woman quirked an eyebrow, eyeing her daughter with suspicion.

"Okay, what's wrong?"

Bunny grumbled, sitting down on her bed.

"I'll give you one guess."

"Tao's boy again?"

"That asshole thinks he's so hot!" Bunny exclaimed, propping her chin on her hands and muttering angrily under her breath. "With his stupid dark eyes and his stupid cocky smirk and his stupid muscles that sometimes show right through his stupid…"

The corners of Kameko's mouth curled up, stretching into a mischievous grin. The girl rolled her eyes and groaned, putting her face in her hands.

"You like him, don't you?"

"I DO NOT!!!" Bunny shrieked, deeply insulted. "I would rather french kiss a toad than go out with that loser!"

"Ah, to be young and in love…" her mother sighed dreamily, Bunny's left eye twitching and a vein popping on her forehead.

"Mom, please! Why would I like someone who only wants my head on a silver platter!?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "In what twisted universe does that make sense?!"

"Actually, your father and I…" Kameko started, but quickly fell silent again, as if remembering something important.

"Dad and you what?" Bunny arched an eyebrow, but her mother just laughed nervously.

"Well, it's rather… complicated. Maybe when you're older."

"You've been saying that for sixteen years, mom," Bunny complained. "Come on, how did you two meet? And don't give me that lame movie theater story again, because you know I'm not buying it."

Kameko opened her mouth as if she was going to answer, then suddenly looked over her shoulder into the hallway.

"Hey, do you smell that? I think uncle Oolong made lasagna for dinner today."

A tornado seemed to sweep through the building as her daughter raced for the kitchen, having forgotten all about their conversation. Bunny thought she was a just normal human girl with an abnormal stomach, but Kameko knew better. Though Cell's human DNA was now dominant, his alien DNA had not been completely removed from his system and was passed onto their unsuspecting daughter. A bright green haired girl with the appetite of ten grown men, wounds that healed at a ridiculous speed and muscles that grew stronger every time she recovered from a fight. One day Kameko and her husband would have to tell Bunny the true story behind her 'quirks', but not yet. As far as their daughter knew, she and her father were perfectly human, and Kameko was going to let her live that lie for as long as fate allowed it.

* * *

It was only a minute to two, and Bunny inspected herself in the mirror one last time. Wearing her traditional orange Turtle School uniform to the past seemed too risky, so she had opted for simple white trainers, grey stringpants and a snug fitting, eggplant colored shirt that she had owned for years. Even her love for purple hues, she had inherited from her father. Bunny glanced at her desk, picking up a framed picture of herself and her parents.

_Dad__… I look so much like you, but yet I can't help but feel I know so little. Maybe you and mom have your reasons, but I just wish you would trust me. Whatever it is you're hiding, surely it can't be that bad?_

"Homesick already? We haven't even left yet."

Bunny let out a startled yelp, which was quickly smothered by a hand clamped over her mouth.

"Keep it down, turtle girl!" Tsuru hissed in her ear. "Or do you want to wake up the whole building?"

"Don't you know how to knock?!" Bunny hissed back after he let her go.

"I know that it's not necessary when the other party is dumb enough to leave their window unlocked," he smirked, cockily folding his arms. Bunny noticed that he had ditched his usual outfit and was now wearing a pink, short sleeved shirt, adorned with a white stripe running down the middle and black, Chinese style frogbuttons. Under that he wore simple, loose fitting black pants and a pair of traditional kungfu shoes.

"Pink, huh?" Bunny snickered. "You just couldn't resist wearing your old man's color, could you?"

"At least I respect the martial arts enough to take some pride in my appearance, 'Miss Leisure Suit'," he countered. "Don't tell me you're actually fighting in those old rags? Are we going to enter a tournament or work in the yard?"

"Well, keep yapping like that, and you'll be pushing up daisies in no time," Bunny glared.

"Keep dreaming, Roshi," Tsuru smirked. "So are we gonna do this thing, or are you planning on chickening out and calling mommy and daddy to rescue you?"

"Oh, we're gonna do it alright!" the girl spat, angrily poking his chest. "We are gonna do it, do it and do it, until you wish you had never been born!"

"Oh my, aren't we frisky today? And here I thought you hated my guts," Tsuru snickered, Bunny groaning and flushing red from embarrassment when her own words repeated themselves in her head.

"Let's just go, crane boy," she hissed through clenched teeth. "And don't make a sound, or we're both done for."

* * *

Two shadowy figures tiptoed through the dark halls of Capsule Corporation. The closer they got to Bulma's laboratory, the more Bunny's stomach tied itself in a knot. She lay a hand on the door handle and a shiver promptly travelled down her spine. Her intuition desperately urged her to go back, an overwhelming feeling that she was about to enter forbidden grounds and once they had crossed the threshold, there would be no turning back.

"That door isn't going to open itself, you know," Tsuru whispered sarcastically behind her. Bunny shot him a venomous look over her shoulder and punched in the security code she had seen her grandma use a few months ago. Fortunately, the scientist hadn't changed it since then, and the heavy slab of metal swung open with a soft croak. The two quickly snuck inside and closed the door behind them. Bunny turned on the lights, whistling at what she saw.

"Man… I had no idea this place was so big!"

"You've never been here before?"

"Nah, grandma Bulma wouldn't even let me near the entrance. Something about being afraid I'll get myself into trouble."

"Gee, I wonder why," Tsuru grinned.

They searched the room from top to bottom, opening every capsule they could find. Which, considering they were at Capsule Corp. headquarters, were quite a few.

"Argh!!! This is going to take forever!" Bunny exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Screw this, we're never going to find… EEEEEEEK!!!"

The girl yelped as she slipped on a small, round object and fell flat on her butt.

"No, it's okay, just leave the lady on the floor," Bunny sweatdropped as Tsuru reached down, not to grab her, but the capsule she had stepped on.

"Hey, this one's an older model than the others," he said, inspecting the small object. "But what's it doing here? I thought Capsule Corp. stopped making these about fifty years ago."

"Well, don't just stand there, open it up!"

Tsuru activated the capsule and threw it on the floor, where it popped open in a cloud of smoke.

They both stared in awe at the machine that now stood in front of them. It was almost like a giant egg, with a yellow and black bottom half, and a glass dome that allowed the passenger to see his or her surroundings. It stood on four metal legs that looked like they could move independently from one another, making it easier to land on uneven terrain. Its design looked deceptively simple, but was all the more impressive to the two unwitting trespassers.

"Whoa…" Bunny gawked. "Do you… do you think this is it?"

"Only one way to find out," Tsuru decided, pushing a button that opened the glass dome. He hopped inside the machine, fiddling around with the console.

"I'm seeing a lot of displays in here," he called from inside the contraption. "Years, months, days, hours… I think we just struck gold."

"Really? Lemme see," Bunny said, jumping up an hovering right behind her archenemy, peering over his shoulder at the console.

"Hey, stop breathing down my neck!" he protested, trying to push the girl away.

"Come on, crane boy! Move over!" Bunny pushed back. "Don't be such a hog and let me have a look! You don't even know how to drive this thing!"

"Oh, and _you_ do?"

"Well… no, but I bet I could figure these controls out faster than you can!"

"My father is half machine, I think we should leave the technical part to me!"

"Yeah, right! Every year you show up late for class at least once because you forget about daylight saving time and now I should let _you_ program the time machine? You'd probably send us right back to the stone age!"

The two continued to shove each other, bickering and wrestling over the controls. Somehow Bunny ended up on Tsuru's lap, her right leg wrapped around his neck and his left hand resting on her…

"EEEEK!!! Get your paws off my girls, you pervert!!!" Bunny shrieked.

"Then let go of my arm already, I'm not doing this on purpose!!!" Tsuru protested.

"I bet you aren't!!!" she barked, glaring daggers at her archrival. She tried to smack him in the face, but the boy dodged just in time, causing her elbow to slam into the control panel. With a soft hum, the glass dome came down on them, trapping the bickering duo inside. From the corner of her eye, Bunny suddenly noticed that someone had turned on the lights in the hallway. Before she could react, the door to the lab flung open, two heated figures standing in the doorway.

"Oh, crud…" Bunny sweatdropped as she came eye to eye with a furious Kameko.

"BUNNY LIME BABA ROSHI!!!" the woman yelled, making the girl shrink. Her mother never used her full name, unless she had really, REALLY blown it.

"Uh… ah… eh…" Bunny stammered, blinking and clumsily feeling around. "Whoa! Where am I? What is this? How did I end up _here_?"

"Don't you use that fake sleepwalking scheme on us, young lady!" her father warned. "You two get out of that time machine right now before you hurt yourselves!"

"You too, Tsuru! I'm calling your father! Not even Tao would be so stupid as to steal…"

"But it was turtle girl's idea!"

"IT WAS NOT!!!" Bunny shrieked outraged. "Who wanted to defend the honor of the lame clan, huh?!"

"That's the_ crane_ clan, and you better remember, you dimwitted, peanut-brained, flatchested…!"

The boy never got chance to finish his sentence. With an insulted yell, Bunny threw herself at her archrival, clawing at his face with her nails while he tried to kick her with his feet in the small confines of the contraption.

"Kami… I'm starting to think they are worse than we used to be back in the old days," Kameko sweatdropped. Her husband just groaned exasperated, marching towards the time machine.

"Alright, break it up you two!" he ordered firmly. "You're in enough trouble as it is. You have exactly three seconds before I capsulate this thing, whether you've exited or not. One…"

The words had barely left his mouth, when he was suddenly blown back by an unexpected blast. Somehow during the scuffle, Bunny had banged Tsuru's head on the delicate control panel, causing the whole console to light up like a haywire Christmas tree. The engine began to rumble as the contraption started up, making the two rivals instantly forget about their fight.

"W-What's happening?!" the girl yelped, her face paling when she looked through the glass and saw her parents getting smaller and smaller. Cell flew up, preparing to blast the roof off the time machine and grab the two panicking youths. He raced to meet them, the attack ready in his hand. His magenta eyes locked with his daughter's brown ones, but as he was about to fire… the machine, and its joyriding occupants, vanished without a trace.

"Oh no… Bunny…" he uttered, the energy in his hand fizzling away. Kameko flew up to meet her husband, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, look what I found on the floor of the lab," she said, holding out a piece of paper. "It looks like an old newspaper clipping. One of them must have dropped it."

"The 19th Tenkaichi Budokai?" he narrowed his eyes. "Oh, his has Tao's kid written all over it."

"Well, at least we know where they went, and it's not so bad," she smiled faintly. "Neither of us or our ancestors will be there, and if I recall correctly, Demon King Piccolo won't be freed from his ricecooker for another nine years or so. There aren't any major events she can disturb, or bad guys that can hurt her. Except for Tsuru himself maybe, but I know deep down that Bunny has the strength to beat…"

"It's not him I'm worried about," Cell suddenly said, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

"What do you mean?" Kameko asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"K-Kameko…" her husband whispered hoarsely, his pupils the size of pinpricks and his face completely ashen with fear. "They may have activated the time machine… but I never saw them set the right date."

* * *

With a loud crash, the time machine slammed upside down into the ground. The glass dome shattered, and the contraption's occupants where thrown out and send hurtling and skidding through the muddy soil.

"Well, we won't be going back that way," Tsuru sweatdropped as he looked at the twisted and warped remains of the machine.

"Oh Kami…" Bunny gulped, when she turned to said remains, which promptly burst into flames.

"Looks like we landed in a forest. Odd, I always thought the Budokai ring was placed in an area with wide, grassy planes and… Turtle girl, are you listening?"

"Oh, _Kami_…" Bunny whimpered again, completely ignoring her rival. "My parents are going to kill me!"

"Not if I beat them to it," Tsuru smirked. "Now let's find that arena and settle our feud once and for…"

"Then again, they'll probably ground me first," she sweatdropped, still staring horrified at the charred wreckage. "They are going to ground me for the next fifty years, kill me, find a way to revive the dragon balls, wish me back, ground me for another fifty years, and then kill me _again_."

"Look, what's done is done," Tsuru said annoyed. "Now are you going to keep whining, or are you going to grow a spine and hold yourself to our agreement?"

Bunny glared at her archrival, balling her fists.

"Just remember your part of the deal, crane boy. In exchange for taking my parents out of the equation, I get a fair fight, with no dirty tricks and on the ground at all times."

He just smirked at her, his eyes betraying that he would hold up his end of the bargain, but only as long as it was in his advantage. He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly something else seemed to catch his eye.

"…What? What is it?" Bunny asked warily as the boy began to frown curiously and slowly walked towards something behind her.

"What on Earth…?" he mumbled as he passed through some shrubs and entered a small clearing. Bunny joined him, letting out a shrill shriek at what she saw.

The creature, or at least its discarded skin, looked mostly like a giant cicada. It was a dark green, with big, round, bulging eyes and two insect like wings that were almost as large as Bunny herself.

"The lining is still moist," Tsuru mumbled as he reached down inside the empty husk, ignoring his grossed out rival who was making gagging noises in the background. "Whatever it was that hatched from this thing, it can't have gotten far."

"As long as it stays away from the tournament grounds," Bunny scrunched her nose in disgust, suppressing a shudder. "I knew I should have brought bug spray…"

"How about a first aid kit? Because you're going to need one once the Budokai is over.

"In your dreams, Tsuru," she scoffed as they made their way through the forest, neither of them prepared for what they would find…

* * *

**A/N:** I know what some of you are fearing will happen now. Yes, that's right, I can read your thoughts right through the Internet. And don't worry: this story is not going to be just a souped-up retelling of Eye of the Turtle. Some things will be similar of course, but I plan on making this an unique story with plenty of fresh plot twists and events :)


	3. Monster of Nicky Town

**A/N:** Thank you all for the reviews on chapters one and two, I'm happy to see so many familiar readers and even a few new ones. Before I continue with chapter three, I want to answer one question that has been asked by an anonymous reviewer: will Cell and Bunny sense that they are related? The answer is no… not right now, that is.

When it comes to Cell, Bulma greatly altered his genetic structure before he married Kameko, and his energy changed along with it. Though 'Seru' still has DNA from Nappa, Frieza, his father and the Z-fighters, it is overshadowed by the now dominant genes of Seventeen and Eighteen, the two strongest human fighters that used to be part of his system. Not even Kameko herself recognized him at first, and only a selected few know that Cell and Seru are actually one and the same.

As for Bunny: I'm not sure how powerlevels and genetics work, but there are two things we know from the show: Cell was created artificially, and it is possible to sense the individual powerlevels of his donors, especially when he uses a specific attack. Future Trunks was created the natural way, but Goku could not sense he was the child of Bulma and Vegeta, even though he has their cells. Therefore, since Bunny was not conceived through artificial means, she has a single, distinct powerlevel of her own. Of course, with a former bio-android for a father, no one can exactly predict how things will pan out…

* * *

**Chapter 3: Monster of Nicky Town**

"Hey, turtle girl? Just for the record, this is all your fault."

"My fault?! Who's brilliant idea was it again to hijack grandma Bulma's time machine and… EEEEEK!!! THERE'S A SPIDER ON MY SHOULDER! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!!!"

"Calm down, it's not a spider. It's just a wasp."

"THATS WORSE, YOU MORON!!!"

"Will you stop screaming and stand still?! If you keep flailing around like that, you're going to hit that…!"

"Oops…"

The two rivals ran for their lives as a swarm of angry wasps came rushing out of the hive that Bunny had wacked out of a nearby tree. Muddied, scratched and covered in twigs and pine needles, they emerged from the forest and onto a freeway. Tsuru turned around, blasting the insects from the sky.

"You're lucky those weren't honeybees," Bunny pointed out. "Those are endangered in this timeline, you know."

"Oh, they'll soon have company," Tsuru glared icily, trying to untangle his hair which stuck in messy clumps to his scalp.

"Save it for the ring, crane boy," Bunny said, wiping some mud from her face. "I don't want to fight without an audience to watch me kick your butt."

"That's why I said 'soon' and not 'now'. I did not come all the way here to settle the ancient turtle-crane feud in an ordinary street brawl." The boy smirked, raising a balled fist. "You're going down, Roshi. I'll kill you with my own hands and then the whole world will finally understand the superiority of the Crane School once and for all."

Bunny groaned, rolling her eyes. She enjoyed the martial arts as a hobby, but Tsuru Tao was an absolute zealot. Sometimes it was easy to forget, but underneath the cocky, playful attitude, he was a ruthless fighter; vicious, skilled and utterly without mercy. Their seemingly innocent witty banter was nothing but a smokescreen, and Bunny knew that the second she dropped her guard, the boy would turn on her in a heartbeat.

"Well, I don't know about you," she started, "but I'm hungry, tired and feeling leaves in places where they don't belong. Let's find a hotel first and freshen up a bit. I'm sure there are plenty of accommodations near the tournament grounds."

"For once, turtle girl, we're on the same wavelength," he agreed, cursing under his breath as he zapped a tick off his bare arm. "So… how do we get to the Budokai from here exactly?"

"What do you mean? _You_ programmed the time machine, didn't you?"

"I thought _you_ did."

"But I didn't know how to operate the…" she blinked, sweatdropping. "Uh, Tsuru? If neither of us entered any coordinates, then… where are we?!"

"How the hell should I know?!"

"Hey, look over there," Bunny said, walking to the side of the road. There was a white sign with black lettering and the picture of a smiling panda on it.

"'Nicky Town', huh?" Tsuru frowned. "Sounds like some backwater hole to me."

"Well, as long as they have showers and a restaurant. I'm starving!"

* * *

"One ham sandwich and a glass of water," Tsuru ordered as he sat down on a barstool, his elbows resting on the wooden counter.

"And how about you, miss?" the elderly bartender asked Bunny as she sat down next to her rival.

"I'll have five cheeseburgers, three sides of fries, two hot dogs, potato salad, whatever is your daily special and a large iced tea… no, wait make that three, I'm kinda thirsty."

"Uh… will… will that be all?"

"Yeah, that snack should hold me over for a while. I'll eat for real once we find a place to stay."

The bartender sweatdropped, but nodded and retreated into the kitchen.

"So… what's your secret anyway?" Tsuru quirked an eyebrow.

"What secret?" Bunny asked, munching on some free peanuts.

"Don't play dumb with me, turtle girl. I've seen you eat truckloads of food at high school, and yet you look like a walking stick figure. You're throwing up or something, aren't you?"

"I am not!" she protested, insulted. "I've actually been trying to _gain_ weight, but nothing seems to work. I guess I just have a really fast metabolism or something."

"No one has a metabolism that fast," he narrowed his eyes. "No one human, that is…"

"And what is that supposed to mean?!" she glared, angrily poking his chest. "_You're_ the weirdo here, mister ham sandwich! How can a professional martial artist get by on a glass of water and two lousy slices of bread?!"

"Maybe I'm exercising a little self-control because some of us don't want to get stomach cramps during the fight."

"Loser. I bet you wear Hello Kitty nose plugs and wait three weeks before you go swimming too…"

The crane school disciple opened his mouth to retort, but the bartender emerged from the kitchen with their order.

"There you go, kids. Enjoy it while it's hot!"

"Oh boy! Chowtime!!!" Bunny rubbed her palms, wolfing down her food as if she hadn't seen any in years.

"You sure have a healthy appetite, don't you?" their bartender chuckled as Bunny devoured the last of her meal, and began gulping down her iced tea.

"Uhhuh… tfis ifs gwreaft!" she eagerly nodded with her mouthful. Tsuru shuddered, pushing away his plate.

"I think I just lost my appetite," he muttered.

"I don't blame you," the elderly man said somberly. "With that monster roaming around, eating is the last thing on most people's minds right now. In fact, you two are the only customers I've had since…"

"Whoa, stop! rewind!" Bunny cut him off. "What monster?!"

"You haven't heard?" the man blinked, grabbing a remote from under the counter and turning on a small TV hanging in a corner from the ceiling. It now displayed a news broadcast, though it weren't the reporter's words that first struck terror into their hearts.

"T-T-Tsuru… there, at the b-bottom of the s-screen…" Bunny whispered hoarsely, her face pale as a sheet. "L-Look at the d-date!"

The crane disciple follower her gaze, all color instantly draining from his face as well.

"May 12, Year 767… If I remember my history classes correctly, that day marked the dawn of the android age of terror!"

"Oh man, this is bad! This is very bad!" Bunny panicked. "Tsuru, do you realize just how dead we are once their rampage starts?! We're no pushovers, but those artificial demons are gonna be way out of our league!"

"I'm surprised we're still alive as it is," the general's son remarked grimly. "It's past noon already, didn't they go on a mass killing spree once they found out that their initial target had died of a heart virus? We should have heard something about them by now."

"Androids? Heart virus? What are you kids talking about?"

"Sir, this is important; Have you seen or heard anything about a boy and a girl called Seventeen and Eighteen wreaking mass destruction?"

"I don't know who or what you're talking about, Miss," the bartender scratched his head. "All I know is that some strange monster ate everyone in Ginger Town and only left their clothes behind. 15.000 people dead, and Kami knows how many more missing. Poor sods…"

The two rivals stared at the TV, their eyes fixated on what seemed to be a recap of the news so far. A middle-aged reporter looked back at them, nervously adjusting the collar of his shirt.

"_As you can see behind me, disaster has struck in the once so peaceful Ginger Town!"_ he announced, gesturing towards the deserted streets, countless of empty shirts, pants and dresses scattered all around.

"_Establishing contact with the residents has so far been unsuccessful and all we found were tattered garments, as if the entire population has been sucked right out of their clothes!"_

"Ginger Town? That isn't far from where we found that disgusting husk. I wish I brought my history book, surely something like this should have been documented," Bunny said to her archrival, who had already decapsulized his suitcase and was now frantically flipping through the pages of 'Android Armageddon - a detailed report'.

"Man, why didn't _I_ think of that?"

"Because you're an idiot. Now be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate!"

Muttering under her breath, Bunny turned back to the TV. The reporter was still describing the horrific scene, and now gunshots could be heard in the background.

"_Oh my, it seems the town isn't completely deserted after all! Let's move in closer and try to get a… huh?"_

The reporter stared into the camera, his eyes widening in horror. He let out one last frightened shriek, and then the broadcast suddenly turned to static. When the image returned, there was a different reporter, a dark-haired woman, looking back at them.

"_That was the last footage of Keitaro Matahara reporting from Ginger Town, before we lost all contact. Our hearts here in the station go out to his family and those of the camera crew, as we fear our beloved colleagues have fallen prey to the monster as well. A memorial broadcast in their honor will be held at…"_

The bartender took the remote again and switched the channel.

"… _are urging everyone in Nicky Town to evacuate immediately!"_

"There's nothing here," Tsuru gritted his teeth. "I've searched this thing from back to cover, but nowhere does it mention an disaster like this. It doesn't make any…!"

"Shhh!!!" Bunny hushed him, pointing at the screen. There, a rather heavy man was sweating bullets, pointing at a map that showed a red line, which was slowly growing longer.

"_The monster was last spotted moving through the outskirts of the Spice District and has been predicted to strike again somewhere in this area. Officials are strongly advising everyone in or around Nicky Town to…"_

Without warning, all hell suddenly broke loose. There was screaming as a sea of people stampeded through the street in blind panic, glass shattering and anything from mailboxes to complete cars being hurtled through the air. Bunny could hear someone cackling, the voice grating and laced with an inhuman evil that made her skin crawl and hair stand on end.

"Kami help us…" the elderly bartender mumbled, grabbing a rifle and climbing over the counter. "Children, stay behind…!"

The poor man never got to finish his sentence. His eyes widened in shock, his muscles and skin sagging like a deflating balloon. His panicked cries for help drowned away in muffled gurgles, then went silent entirely. The two rivals could only stare, frozen in horror, as the last of the bartender's body withered away and only his clothing was left.

"Ah, how… invigorating," a voice rasped behind where the man once stood. Bunny didn't want to, but it was as if her eyes had a will of their own, slowly travelling up the creature's nightmarish frame. The tip of his tail lifted from the pile of empty clothes, now swaying lazily behind him. The appendage itself was like the rest of his body; a dark green with black spots, with some parts like his hands and feet being a slightly lighter shade. The monster was at least two meters tall, his physique lanky and almost gaunt. Insectlike wings adorned his back, though it was difficult to tell if they served a function, as they seemed too small to support the creature's weight. Finally her gaze rested on his face, two pink, snakelike eyes staring back at them. His orange beak twisted into a cruel grin, the monster's tail slowly moving behind him. Bunny's brain had grinded to a complete halt, but now kicked back into full gear as it registered what was about to happen.

"TSURU! LOOK OUT!!!" she yelled as the deadly syringe suddenly shot at the boy with blinding speed. The crane school disciple snapped out of his shock and leaped out of harm's way, the tail crashing into the barstool he had sat on only a split second earlier. Bunny jumped off her chair and next to her rival, both of them assuming their combat stance.

"Thanks, Bunny, that was close," the boy gulped, betraying his fear. He almost never used her real name, only when pure terror made him forget to mock her.

"What is this?" the monster hissed, baring his fangs. "No ordinary human could have seen that coming!"

Tsuru recovered remarkably fast, color returning to his face. He smirked smugly at his attacker, cockily folding his arms.

"Nice try, but we're not helpless sheep like that old fart you just sucked through that tail of yours. Isn't that right, Ro…?"

Bunny clamped a hand over his mouth, grinning sheepishly at the monster.

"Excuse us for a moment, will you?"

She dragged the boy outside, smacking him over the head.

"What was that for?!" he exclaimed.

"'Roshi'?!" she whispered angrily, glaring daggers at her rival. "Are you trying to give away my identity?!"

"Oh please, don't be such a spaz. That thing probably never heard about the turtle hermit or that he's going to adopt your mother."

"You don't know what it knows, and I don't want to risk it going after my grandpa!" she hissed.

"And why should I care?"

"Because if you don't keep your big mouth shut, I just might let something slip about a certain world-famous assassin who lives not too far from the Spice District. You endanger my birth, and I'll endanger yours, got that?!"

"Fine then… 'Bunny'," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Have it your way."

By now the streets were deserted, Nicky Town's inhabitants either on the run or already dead. Metallic footsteps bounced off the abandoned buildings as the monster emerged from the diner, an faint aura of energy softly buzzing around him.

"Are you two done talking?" he asked almost politely. "I expected you to take this chance and try to escape, but I'm surprised to find you're still here. I'm glad too see there are at least some humans sensible enough to realize the futility of running, though it does somewhat lessens the satisfaction of absorbing you."

"You're not scaring us, bugface," Bunny glared, but an involuntary shiver still ran down her spine. There was something about this creature… something that felt almost… familiar? There was a strange and vague sense of déjà vu, almost as if she had met him before. The girl quickly shook it off, returning her focus to the monster who was hungrily eyeing the both of them.

"She's right," Tsuru joined. "You're powerlevel is a bit above average, I'll give you that, but it's not nearly high enough to beat even one of us. What makes you think you stand a chance?"

"You think what you can sense now is the full extend of my power?" he chuckled. "Don't flatter yourself…"

Without warning, the creature began to power up, almost blowing the two rivals off their feet. They watched on in horror as a yellow aura surrounded the monster. They could see hundreds, no _thousands_ of howling faces swirling around him, their features contorted in utter terror and fear. Ghostly images of innocent people who had already died at the monster's hands.

"You bastard…" Bunny growled. "Now I get it. You're not just killing these people, your feeding on them!"

"Yeeeesss," the creature rasped. "It is their life energy that gives me my power."

"Well, we ain't on the menu, buddy," Tsuru said, though he looked significantly less sure of himself. Bunny knew why: the monster had been hiding a great deal of his ki, and was now almost twice as strong as the crane disciple. The boy was clever, but strategy alone would not cut it against a force like this, and he knew it.

"Hey, Tsuru," she whispered, never taking her eyes off the beast. "I don't like you and you don't like me, but I think we may need to work together on this one."

"Me? Team up with you?!" he scoffed coldly. "As if."

"This is no time for your stupid pride!" she hissed nervously. "Can't you sense his powerlevel just went through the roof?! If either of us fights that thing one-on-one, we're going to get clobbered, but if we join forces and combine our strength, we may just stand a chance!"

"Alright then… As much as I hate to admit it, I think you're right," he nodded grimly. "On my mark, we attack; one… two…"

Bunny waited for a 'three', but it never came. Without warning, the boy suddenly bolted, his laugh echoing through the empty streets.

"What the… HEY!!!"

"HAHAHA!!! You always were way too gullible, turtle girl! You two have fun killing each other off!"

"TSURU!!! GET BACK HERE YOU ASSHOLE!!!" Bunny shrieked, preparing to dart after her traitorous rival. However, the monster had already beat her to it. Faster than her eyes could track, he disappeared and reappeared right before the startled crane disciple. Before the boy could react, a green elbow slammed down on his back, sending him crashing into the pavement below.

"Serves you right," Bunny snapped as her rival slowly got back to his feet, his head still reeling. "See if I ever save your butt again."

"Come on, Ros… Bunny, don't tell me you weren't tempted to try the same."

"Well… maybe a little…"

The monster took a step towards them. The two teenagers quickly took a step back. He grinned, his tail swishing eagerly behind him. Suddenly, Tsuru lunged at the creature, landing a flying kick at his chest. The beast tried to recover, but the crane disciple was relentless, jack hammering the creature at near lightning speed. Bunny charged while the element of surprise was still on their side, joining the boy in a flurry of fists and punches. The monster seemed overwhelmed for a moment, but then suddenly formed an aura around himself, repelling the two rivals and sending them skidding across the street.

"Damn, that thing is tougher than it looks," Tsuru said. "We better get serious."

"You were holding back?"

"Weren't you?"

Bunny smirked, her rival smirking back.

"Let's freak him out," she grinned, balling her fists and moving her feet further apart.

"POWER UP!!!" Bunny yelled, a brightgreen aura exploding around her. Tsuru's ki flared blue around him, his energy soaring to almost inhuman heights. The two continued to yell as they powered up to their max, energy crackling around them like lightning. The ground beneath their feet trembled, cracks forming in the pavement.

"HAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Tsuru roared, his raven hair standing on end as his power reached its peak. Next to him, Bunny's entire body was engulfed in a green colored tempest, an almost devilish grin on her face.

"Hehehe… not so cocky now, are you, ugly?"

"That's it?"

Bunny blinked, then furrowed her brow.

"What do you mean 'that's it'?" she protested. "We're way stronger now that we powered up! Maybe it would be a bit difficult fighting you one-on-one, but there's no way you can handle both of us!"

"Hehe… he's bluffing," Tsuru grinned. "That thing is about to eat the pavement and he knows it!"

Bunny tried to share his confidence, but part of her began to doubt. The creature's powerlevel was high, but not_ that_ high. Maybe slightly above their combined force, but that still left them with the advantage of power in numbers. So why was he so calm? Was the monster really bluffing? Or was he hiding something from them?

"Before we kick your ass, tell us one thing," Bunny demanded. "Who are you? You learned our names, so do you care to return the courtesy or should we just call you 'hey, ugly'?"

"Well, since you're dying to know… My name is Cell."

The girl was about to make a remark on the terrible pun, but suddenly found herself being flung away like a ragdoll. She crashed into the streets, the monster moving in for the kill. But as his tail was about to strike, Tsuru delivered a swift kick to Cell's head, knocking him off course.

"That was for warning me back in the diner. Consider us even now," he said.

"Gotcha," she nodded grimly, jumping back to her feet. The two rivals braced for another assault, but the monster stayed in place, slowly raising a greenskinned hand.

"But… that stance…" Tsuru stuttered, his eyes growing wide. "Don't tell me that thing's going to…"

"DODONPA!!!" Cell yelled, firing a ray of concentrated energy from the tip of his finger. Tsuru stood nailed to the ground, staring at the incoming beam like a deer caught in the headlights. Bunny lunged at the boy, pushing him out of the way and behind a building.

"I guess that's 2-1 for me, huh?" she grinned, but her archenemy didn't seem to listen.

"How the hell does that monster know the Dodonpa?!" he breathed, still in shock. "That's a Crane School technique! The only way he could have learned that is if he studied under my father or uncle Tsuru!"

"Figures your old man has something to do with this," Bunny glared.

"He does not!" Tsuru hissed. "There is no way he would accept that disgusting…"

A blue blast came flying at them from behind, and the two teenagers could barely dodge in time. Now it was Bunny's turn to be shocked, as she could have recognized that attack from a mile away.

"That was a Kamehameha!" she panicked. "This thing knows Turtle School techniques too!"

"This is getting ridiculous," Tsuru growled, getting back to his feet and facing the monster. "Alright, Cell… talk! Who are you? What are you!? How the hell have you mastered both the turtle and the crane arts, even though you probably should just have focused on the latter?"

"Hey!!!"

Cell chuckled, eyeing the two nervous teenagers. They warily looked back, trying to get ready for anything he could throw at them.

"That is for me to know… and for you to never find out."

"Then we'll just have to beat it out of you," Bunny barked, lunging at the monster. She fired a ki-blast at his face, but Cell swatted it away without effort. However, it distracted him long enough for her to land a spinning kick on his neck. She grinned when her foot hit its mark, but her expression quickly fell when she saw the creature had not budged an inch. Tsuru rushed to her aid, but Cell quickly grabbed Bunny's leg and flung the girl at her rival, sending both at them crashing through the window of an abandoned drugstore. Outside, they could already hear the monster's metallic footsteps coming closer.

"Turtle girl," Tsuru started, slowly getting back to his feet. "Any chance you have a secret killer attack up your sleeve?"

"Sorry, fresh out."

"Slacker. Good thing I've been working on a new finishing move. I was saving it for you, but I guess I'll have to bring out the big guns ahead of schedule."

"Only there's a reason you haven't used it yet, am I right?"

He nodded grimly.

"This move is strong enough to blast that creep to pieces, but I'll need a full minute to charge it and I'll be wide open doing so. Think you can keep Captain Cockroach off my back for 60 seconds?"

A bright light flooded the store, and suddenly the entire outside wall was blasted away. Cell slowly emerged from the shroud of dust, his silhouette like a ghostly angel of death. His beak twisted into a cruel grin, the monster's tail arched above his head and poised to strike.

"Start charging," Bunny ordered, crouching into a fighting stance. This was going to be the longest and most painful minute of her life…


	4. On the Run

**A/N:** Here's chapter four, for your reading pleasure. Happy holidays!

* * *

**Chapter 4: On the Run**

"Alright, ugly, let's dance!"

"I believe I told you my name, my dear."

"I never said I was gonna use it," Bunny smirked.

"Ah, a smart mouth…" Cell chuckled. "Well, soon you won't be so cocky."

"And what's that supposed to…"

Cell charged at the unsuspecting girl, his knee burying itself in her stomach. Bunny doubled over, gasping in surprise and pain. The monster quickly raised his arm, slamming his elbow down on her back. In less than three seconds, Bunny had been floored an now lay sprawled out on the pavement, face down. Cell reached down to grab the back of her shirt, but suddenly Bunny rolled on her back, her eyes glowing.

"You little brat!!!" Cell howled in pain as the girl shot lasers from her eyes, which drilled directly into his. She backflipped to her feet, pulling her palms to her side.

"KAME…" Bunny began to chant, gathering a ball of blue energy in her hands. "HAME… HAAAA!!!"

She fired the attack, confident that it would hit home now that the creature was blinded. However, at the last moment, Cell jumped up and landed on all fours like an animal.

No, not just an animal… a predator, flashed through her mind.

"Nice try," he glared with eyes that looked completely undamaged. But Bunny had burned them right out of their sockets! She knew she had!

… Hadn't she?

Bunny swallowed a lump in her throat, nervously eyeing the monster. Slowly they circled each other, the tension in the air so thick it was almost tangible. Suddenly, Cell lunged at her. Bunny yelped and leaped out of the way, his tail crashing into the ground where she had stood only a split second earlier. He whirled around with an extended hand, his black fingernails swiping her face. Bunny cried out from pain, instinctively reaching up and leaving an opening in her defense. Cell landed a spinning kick on her chest, sending her flying into an empty school bus. She got back to her feet, her head reeling from blinding pain.

"What are you doing?!" Tsuru yelled from the sidelines. "Fight back!!!"

"What does it _look_ like I'm trying to do?!" she panicked, franticly dodging Cell's tail. The stabs came faster than a rain of bullets, and Bunny found herself struggling to keep up the pace. She wanted to call out for her parents, then realized that they hadn't even been born yet.

_For the first time in my life__… I'm alone… _was the last frightened thought that entered her mind, before the inevitable happened and Cell's deadly tail jammed itself in her shoulder.

"NO!!! TURTLE GIRL!!!" Tsuru panicked, not because of her impending demise, but because the boy knew he would be next.

"Well, I suppose that was it then. Farewell, my dear… or should I say hello?"

It was as if the entire world around her stopped in that single instance. Bunny felt herself slump against the battered school bus, slowly sinking down to the street. Her vision blurred as her energy was drained away, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She could hear Tsuru yelling at her to move, the monster laughing… and suddenly, something inside her snapped. There was screaming, a deafening explosion. Words in a cold and vicious tongue that sounded like no language she have ever heard. Next thing she knew, Bunny found herself back on her feet, no sign of the monster or his deadly tail. In front of her lay only a stretch of barren wasteland that was at least thirty meters wide and seemed to go on all the way to the horizon. As if an enormous blast had plowed right through the deserted town, destroying everything in its wake.

"Whoa…" she gawked, rubbing her eyes. "You weren't kidding about that attack of yours, Tsuru! Nice work!"

"I… I didn't fire yet."

Bunny blinked, turning around to face her rival.

"But then who did?"

"You don't remember? At all?!"

"Remember what?"

Tsuru didn't answer, but just stared at Bunny like her head had just spontaneously burst into flames.

"Come on, crane boy! What am I supposed to… EEEEEEK!!!"

Bunny screamed and fell flat on her butt when Cell suddenly emerged from the rubble behind her, murder in his snake-like eyes.

"Oh, crap! Oh, crap! Oh, crap!!!" she panicked as the monster loomed over her and raised his tail. "TSURU I DON'T CARE IF YOU FINISHED CHARGING OR NOT! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!!!"

Just as she was about to be impaled by the lethal syringe a second time, Tsuru aimed his index finger at the monster, a confident grin on his face.

"Chew on this! SUPER DODONPA!"

A bright red beam fired from the tip of his finger and struck Cell dead-on, exploding on impact. Bunny was blown away by the sheer force of the blast, landing right next to her rival.

"The name might not be much, but I think it's safe to say it did the trick," Tsuru smirked, folding his arms. Bunny followed his gaze, her muscles going limp with sheer relief. Right where the monster had once stood, now only lay his bloodied carcass and severed head, two dead pink eyes gazing up at the sky but no longer seeing.

"I think… I think I'm going to be sick," she shuddered.

"Well, at least it's dead now," Tsuru said, walking over to the creature's remains. "I'm going to destroy what's left of that thing, and then you're next, turtle… AAAAARGH!!!"

The normally so cool and aloof crane disciple let out a startled cry when the lifeless eyes suddenly sparked with new energy and looked straight at him. Cell's severed head floated up, the exposed tissue of the neck rippling and pulsing before their eyes. Suddenly a new upper body sprouted into existence, which in turn quickly grew a new set of arms and legs.

"Wha, wha, wha…" Bunny stammered, her teeth clattering and pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks. Her entire body was shaking with fear and Tsuru wasn't doing much better.

"O-Oh, Kami…" he kept uttering. "Oh, Kami… Oh… Oh…K-Ka…"

"Thank you children for the warm-up," Cell chuckled, flexing his new muscles. "I found it quite entertaining."

"W-Warm-up?!" Bunny squeaked.

"He's b-bluffing, turtle girl!" Tsuru protested in a high-pitched voice. "S-Stand tall! Don't let that t-thing m-mess with your head!"

"Actually, I've only been using about ten percent of my full power. I do like to give my prey a sporting chance, it makes it all the sweeter when their eyes fill with fear as they realize they were already doomed from the start."

_Oh no__…_ Bunny whimpered, her body feeling like solid lead. _What have we done!? Why didn't I listen to grandma Bulma? We never should've even entered that damned lab in the first place! I'm never going to see my parents again…_

The monster poised his tail to strike and lunged at the horrified duo, but as they were about to meet their fate, a sandal clad foot kicked Cell out of the way. A young woman landed gracefully on the streets, familiar brown eyes looking at the shocked teens.

"You two better run," she warned. "I'll try to keep him busy."

Bunny didn't hear a word she said, but just stared at the redheaded woman. Their savior felt like her mother, sounded like her mother, but only looked a few years older than herself. And more important: she wasn't even supposed to be born yet!

"What are you doing here…?" Bunny uttered, her brain still not believing what her eyes were seeing.

"Come on, snap out of it, kid! Both of you need to get out of here right now before Cell recov…"

"Ah, Kameko, how bold of you to seek me out on your own," the creature rasped as he got back to his feet. "Foolish, but bold nonetheless. Just let me finish my lunch and I'll be right with you."

"Leave them alone, Cell, they have nothing to do with this!"

"You would deny them a chance to become part of perfection?"

"I didn't know 'perfection' looked like a cockroach that has been hit in the face with a sledgehammer," Bunny heard Tsuru snicker next to her. The monster hissed angrily and dashed at the bigmouthed boy, but Kameko managed to grab his tail and flung him into an abandoned building.

"Hurry up!" she ordered. "Get out of here before he sees where you're going!"

Bunny hesitated, question upon question still racing through her head. Tsuru was less eager to stay, grabbing the girl and flying away at breakneck speed.

"Hey, let me go!" she protested, trying to pry her hand free. "I need to help my mom!"

"Listen, you dimwitted twit!" he snapped back, keeping a firm grip on her wrist. "I understand you don't want to leave her behind, but you're not letting that thing get his claws on you again! Besides that, your mother will be fine, otherwise you wouldn't have been born. So stop worrying about her and start worrying about yourself instead, got that?"

"Uh… thanks?"

"Save it, turtle girl. I just don't want that creature to torture you into telling where I am or who my father is. We'll figure out what's going on later, but right now we need to keep our heads, make a strategic withdrawal and regroup! Besides that, if you're going to die, it will be at my hands and my hands alone."

"You just don't know how to quit when you're ahead, do you, crane boy?" Bunny sweatdropped, then sighed. "But I guess you're right, we better get ourselves to safety first and then think of a… hey! Hey! HEY!!! EEEEEEK!!!"

Bunny began to scream from the top of her lungs as Tsuru ascended while still holding her hand. They had been flying just above the streets, using the buildings for cover, but apparently the boy had other plans.

"We're far enough away now, Cell won't see us if we fly through the sky and it'll be faster than zigzagging our way out of here!"

"I DON'T CARE! PUT ME DOWN!!!" Bunny shrieked hysterically, trashing in his grasp. Feeling her powerlevel increase along with her panic, Tsuru quickly let go of his rival before she would turn her frustration on him.

"You're hopeless," he sighed exasperated, glaring annoyed at the terrified girl. "You can FLY for Kami's sake! Why on Earth are you so mortified of heights!?"

"I wish I knew," she muttered, hugging herself. "Do you think I'm enjoying this?! I've had this phobia for as long as I can remember."

"And it's going to be your undoing if you don't man up and get over it."

"Wouldn't that be 'woman up'?"

"Grammar Nazi."

"Sexist."

"Wimp."

"I know you are, but what am I? Wait, don't…! EEEK PUT ME DOWN!!!"

* * *

"What room number did we get again, turtle girl?"

"653," Bunny answered as they walked through the halls of the only hotel in Nutmeg Town. "I still can't believe I agreed to share a room with you."

"Trust me, Roshi, the very thought of even sleeping in the same building disgusts me," Tsuru said coldly. "But if we spend the night apart, chances are neither of us will live to see morning. We'll take turns standing guard every three hours, it's safer that way."

"Define 'safe', crane boy," Bunny glared. "How do I know you won't kill me in my sleep?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Tsuru scoffed. "As if you're so strong that I would need to stoop to such a pathetic strategy."

"I wouldn't put it past you," Bunny muttered, but opened the door to their room anyway.

"You get first watch, turtle girl. Don't screw up," Tsuru said, flopping down on the queen-size bed. Bunny opened her mouth to protest, but her rival had already fallen into a deep sleep. Muttering obscenities under her breath, the girl entered the bathroom to wash up and take care of her injuries.

She turned on the faucet, splashing some cold water onto her face. To her surprise, it didn't sting. Bunny looked in the mirror above the sink, her eyes widening slightly when she could find almost no trace of the gashes the monster's sharp claws had left on her cheeks and nose. Her eyes travelled down and rested on her shoulder, the bleeding hole left by the creature's tail now little more than a superficial bruise. She had always healed fast, but this had to be a new record. Tsuru wouldn't be surprised since was used to her quick healing abilities by now, but he had once remarked that it was impossible to recover at such a rate, even going as far as calling it inhuman. Then again, what did he know!? Her father recovered even faster than she did and he was perfectly normal!

"Crane boy's the weirdo, not me," she grumbled while brushing her hair. "His dad is half _machine_ for Kami's sake! Stupid ass Tsuru with his stupid comments getting on my stupid nerves…"

She left the bathroom, letting herself slump into a comfortable armchair next to the only window. The crane school disciple was still vast asleep and Bunny doubted if even the monster of Nicky Town himself could wake the boy up. It had been an eventful day to say at least, and the fact that they had left their own timeline in the middle of the night, wasn't helping either.

Bunny turned her head to the side, moving the curtains and letting her gaze wander the streets below. Why did the only free room in the entire hotel had to be on the sixth floor?! Well, as long as there was a wall that reached above her knees and a thick sheet of glass separating her from the outside world, she could keep her fear of heights in check, even if it was only barely.

The girl rested her elbow on the windowsill, her fingers brushing the glass. Rain was pouring outside, but Bunny knew the bad weather was not the reason the streets of Nutmeg Town were deserted. Death itself stalked the night, a nightmarish creature that moved through the shadows like liquid quicksilver and only left its victims' clothes behind. It were fearful times, when not just children were afraid of the dark or the very real monster that inhabited it. The truth was that you were not the least bit safer in bed than you were outside, and the adult side of you knew this. However, everyone has a small part that never grows up, and that inner child still believed that if you hid under the covers, clutched your favorite stuffed animal tightly to your chest and stayed very, VERY still, perhaps death's cold embrace would pass you by.

Bunny looked up at the sky, her gaze resting on the moon. It shone bright enough to illuminate the streets below and it would only be a few more days until it was full. She had only seen Earth's moon in photographs or old movies. It had been destroyed in her timeline, but it seemed that in this one, someone had gone through the trouble of restoring it. Perhaps they had even used the magical dragon balls Bunny had heard so much about from her grandma. She knew that travelling through time could corrupt the timeline, but at least this particular change had been one for the better. It made the night look just a little less frightening.

Bunny yawned, rubbing her eyes. Her thoughts drifted off to her mother, or the younger version of her at least. What was she doing in the past? Why hadn't she told Bunny about her journey? So many questions…

_I wonder if dad__'s younger self is here too, _was the last thought that surfaced in her mind, before her eyelids grew heavy and then fell shut entirely.


	5. Night of Terror

**A/N:** One last chapter before the year ends. Thank you all for your support so far! Happy 2010!

* * *

**Chapter 5: Night of Terror**

FLASHBACK

"Very good, Bunny! I think you've got it down!"

The fourteen-year old landed on the grass and grinned, flexing her muscles.

"Mom, this is awesome! Where'd you learn how to do that?"

"Let's just say I have friends in high places," Kameko smiled, then suddenly gave her daughter a stern look.

"Just promise you'll only use it in an emergency, alright? And by 'emergency', I don't mean during a spar or just to score a quick victory. Life or death situations only, no exceptions."

"But I could totally kick Tsuru's butt with this technique!" the girl protested. "Blindfolded!!!"

"No, Bunny!" her mother warned. "If Tao's son bothers you, raise your powerlevel and your father and I will deal with him."

"But…"

"Bunny, listen carefully," Kameko said, putting her hands on the teen's shoulders and looking her straight in the eyes. "This attack is powerful, but also extremely dangerous. If you lose control, even if only for a split second, it will backfire and blow up in your face. Only use it if you absolutely have to, and _never_ go over times one, understand? Promise me, Bunny!"

"Oh… alright," she muttered. "I guess I'll just have to find another way to wipe that smirk off crane boy's face."

END FLASHBACK

Bunny jolted awake, an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. She looked at the clock, which told her it was five in the morning, even though they had entered their room at ten.

_Crap! I must have dozed off!_

She wanted to get up and wake her rival, but for some reason she couldn't move. Raw fear glued her body to the chair, the hairs in her neck standing on end.

Blip. Blip. Blip. Like dozens of little lights on an internal radar, Bunny could feel sleeping energies spike briefly in distress before disappearing completely. One by one, but at an alarming rate, the number of hotel guests decreased; not by checking out, but by vanishing into thin air.

As if bitten by a poisonous snake, Bunny jumped out of her chair and rushed to her still sleeping rival.

"Tsuru!" she hissed, frantically shaking his shoulders. "Tsuru, wake up! Come on!!!"

"What the… 5AM?! Turtle girl, you idiot! Why didn't you…!"

Bunny quickly covered his mouth with her hand, using the other to signal that he had to keep his voice down.

"I don't want to freak out for no reason," she whispered, her voice squeaking with fear. "But I think Cell might be here in the building!"

Tsuru closed his eyes for a moment. They quickly flew open, now filled with horror.

"I sensed him. It was only for a split second, but I sensed him alright, and he's killing the other guests in their sleep."

"Do you think he knows we're here?"

"Yeah, no doubt about it," Tsuru nodded grimly. "Out of all places in the Spice District, he had to attack _this_ town? In _this_ hotel? We've been idiots, turtle girl. If that thing can manipulate ki, then chances are he can sense it as well, and we flew all the way here with our powerlevels still raised to the max!"

"But what does he want from us? What makes you and me so special that he crosses the entire Spice District without making any killing stops in between?" Bunny asked, her stomach tying itself into a knot as she felt the monster approaching. It was now on the fifth floor, almost directly below them.

"Isn't it obvious?" the boy growled, balling his fist. "This thing doesn't just kill people; he absorbs them for their energy. The stronger they are, the more energy Cell gains."

"And with the exception of the few Z-fighters who haven't been killed by the androids yet, if there _are_ any, we're the probably the strongest humans alive," Bunny finished for him with growing dread.

They could feel the monster absorb the last of the guests on the floor below them. He then moved further away to the end of the hall, where the nearest staircase was located.

"I don't get it, why doesn't he just burst through the ceiling?" Bunny whispered.

"Cell sensed us fly here, but I don't think he can sense exactly where we are," Tsuru said. "That's why he's searching all the rooms and killing the occupants in their sleep, rather than rampaging through the building like a bulldozer. If one of the guests manages to scream, he or she will alert the entire hotel, including us."

Bunny shuddered at the though of lying in bed, vast asleep, the monster of Nicky Town looming over her with his tail poised to strike…

"Oh Kami, we have to warn everyone!" she panicked, but Tsuru quickly grabbed the back of her shirt before she could rush to the door.

"Turtle girl, no! Cell came here for us!"

"Yes, so if we let him know in which room we are, he'll leave the other guests alone!"

"There _are_ no more other guests, Roshi!" he snapped, shaking her shoulders. "Don't you get it?! They're dead! They're all dead and if that thing finds us, we'll be next!"

Bunny closed her eyes and felt out the life energies in the building. To her horror, she only found two, and the weaker one was fading rapidly. The other energy grew slightly stronger, before it was suppressed again.

_Mom and dad would have done something_, a pang of guilt shot through her stomach. _They would have tried to stop that monster, even if it killed them… But I'm so afraid!_

They could now hear Cell's metallic footsteps bouncing off the walls in the empty corridor, each step louder then the one that had preceded it. A quiet, but piercing rhythm that rang through Bunny's ears like a hypnotizing drum.

"Turtle girl, if we fly out the window, that thing will sense us. We have to hide!" Tsuru snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Where? In the closet or under the bed? Those will be the first places he'll look!"

The crane disciple's eyes frantically darted left and right, a frustrated hiss escaping through clenched teeth. Suddenly his gaze jerked upwards.

"There, that grid in the ceiling! It looks like a ventilation shaft!"

Knowing that flying would raise their powerlevels and moving the furniture would look suspicious, Bunny climbed on Tsuru's shoulders and yanked open the hatch, climbing inside the shaft. She turned around and quickly pulled up her rival, putting the metal grid back into place.

Cell's footsteps stopped, and they could feel his powerlevel rising ever so slightly. Bunny and Tsuru carefully peeked through small openings in the grid, holding their breath. A laserbeam was cutting through the lock of the door, which silently swung open. Like a praying mantis, Cell leaped onto the bed, his tail crashing into the mattress. The monster stood motionless on the empty bed for about two seconds, then an angry hiss escaped from his beak when he realized his surprise attack had failed.

_Please leave,_ Bunny prayed silently. _Please think we're in another room, please think we jumped out the window, please think we were never even here in the first place…_

The girl kept staring at the monster below them. She was terrified, more terrified than she had ever been in her entire life. Yet her eyes were glued to the creature's back, a small part of her mind screaming at her, though she couldn't make out the words.

_I know him__… I've know him all my life! His energy feels… he feels… trusted…? I don't have to run from him! He would never hurt me…_

Bunny's hands slowly began to move to the hatch of the ventilation shaft, almost pushing it away. But at the last possible second, she was violently jerked from her trancelike state and snapped back to reality.

Cell whirled around, his tail crashing into a closet. It then lashed out at the curtains, ripping them in two.

"I can sense you're still here, children!" he cackled, his voice laced with malice. "Lower your powerlevels all you want, but you will never be able to make them fully disappear. Not when you're so close I can almost taste your fear."

Any odd feelings of recognition that may have still lingered in Bunny's mind, had now vanished completely. Fright took over her body, her pupils shrinking until they were the size of pinpricks.

("We have to attack,") Tsuru stated after opening a telepathic link; a psychic crane school ability that Bunny had always secretly envied.

("You can leave if you want, I'll stay right here, thank you,") Bunny nervously thought back.

("Turtle girl, we have to attack now while the element of surprise is still ours!")

("A brilliant plan, crane boy, but there's just one problem.")

("What's that?")

("I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!")

Cell continued to rummage through their room, leaving no closet unopened and no table standing on its legs.

"I don't know where you're hiding, humans, but make no mistake; I can sense you're both close and I will find you eventually," the monster announced, blasting the chair Bunny had been sleeping in. "Why not end this futile game of hide and seek and become part of perfection? It won't hurt… well, not for very long that is."

Bunny thought she was going to be ill right there and then. Next to her, she could see Tsuru's face turn a sickly shade of grey as Cell raised his tail, the tip swaying just mere inches below them. She went limp with relief when it lowered again and the monster left to search the bathroom.

"Hey, crane boy, this our chance!" Bunny whispered. "Let's bust out of here while his back is turned and make a run for the door!"

"Wow, great idea, turtle girl!" Tsuru whispered back, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Let's leave our hiding place and expose ourselves, because this totally doesn't have 'it's a trap!' written all over it!"

"Well, do you have a better idea?!" he snapped, her voice a little louder.

"Yes, we attack while he least expects it!" he argued, raising his voice as well.

"We can't fight that thing! He'll clobber us! Escape is our only option!"

"You're kidding, right? That monster is so fast he can fly circles around both of us! The best defense is a good offense!"

"We have to run!"

"We have to attack!"

"Run!"

"Attack!"

"RUN!!!"

"ATTACK!!!"

"RU… AAAAAAARRGH!!!"

Both rivals screamed when a green, black spotted tail came crashing through the ceiling and into the ventilation shaft, the deadly syringe missing Tsuru's face by less than a hair. The tail withdrew and shot at them again, this time nearly striking Bunny's left leg. Cell continued to stab through the metal lining of the ventilation shaft while the two teens scrambled to get away from the deadly appendage. Eventually there was more hole than ceiling left, and the battered shaft caved in under their weight. With a scream the two rivals fell from the ceiling, landing on top of their unsuspecting attacker.

"I changed my mind… RUN!!!" Tsuru yelled, bolting through the door with Bunny close behind.

"Oh Kami, Oh Kami… what do we do? What do we do?! We're so incredibly screwed!" she panicked as they raced through the hallway, not daring to look back.

"First we get the hell out of here," her archrival answered grimly. "Then we're going to find my father and uncle Tsuru. They'll know how to take that freakshow out!"

"As much as I hate to compliment you, crane boy, you're way stronger than both of them. If _you_ can't even handle that thing…"

"There is more to a battle than brute strength, turtle twit!" he barked, his expression darkening. "Cell thinks he's so hot, but made one big mistake when he mocked me, a disciple of the crane school, even daring to imitate our techniques! My father is the world's greatest assassin and my uncle the greatest martial arts teacher to have ever set foot on this Earth. You turtle wimps can sit this one out, Roshi. The crane school will prove their supremacy by ridding this world of that disgusting insect."

The boy was lying to himself, and they both knew it. But Bunny granted him this little bit of false hope, knowing it was the only thing that gave her rival the strength to hold on. And she so desperately needed him to hold on… because even though the girl hated him with a passion, he was all she had left of home.

Without warning, Tsuru suddenly came to a screeching halt. Bunny plowed face first into the boy's back, her head reeling.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!!! Why'd you stop?!" she protested, rubbing her sore nose. "Sunday flyer!"

"Cell's not following us," he stated. "He must be up to something."

Bunny looked over her shoulder, where she found no trace of the monster. She thought seeing him was bad, but now she realized that not seeing him was unbearable. They could hear his cruel laughter echoing through the building, bouncing off the walls and making it impossible to determine where it was coming from.

"COME OUT!!!" Bunny yelled, her voice shaking with fear. "We know you're still stalking us! Show yourself you coward!!!"

Her demand was answered by an explosion that blew away the entire outer wall. The two rivals were caught in the blaze, their bodies hurtling through the air and crashing into the street outside.

"Kamidammit…" Bunny groaned, slowly sitting up and dusting the rubble from her clothes. She looked up to see that their harsh landing had created a small crater that was almost three meters deep.

"Come on, Tsuru, we have to get out of here and…"

Her face paled when she saw the crane disciple lying half buried under the debris, not moving.

"Tsuru… Tsuru! Wake up, crane boy! Come on, don't do this to me!" she panicked, shaking his shoulders. The boy did not react, his eyes closed and a trickle of blood running down his right temple. Her rival was still breathing, but the unfortunate landing on his head had rendered him out cold and unable to fight.

"It seems your friend is… unavailable," she heard Cell chuckle above her. She looked up to meet his gaze as he peered down at them over the edge of the crater. "Well then… should I put the two of you out of your misery now, or do you still insist on resisting?"

"You better believe it," she growled, flying out of the hole and touching down on what was left of the asphalt. She gritted her teeth, balling her fists and glaring at the monster as venomously as she could.

"Just give up," Cell shook his head, not impressed by her renewed fighting spirit. "You couldn't beat be when you attacked as a team, so what makes you think you stand a chance on your own?"

Bunny smirked, her entire body glowing bright red as the pavement cracked beneath her feet and her powerlevel soared to new heights.

"Allow me to demonstrate… KAIOKEN!!!"


	6. Hidden Powers

**A/N:** Hi guys, I'm back. Sorry for the long radio silence, but all kinds of crappy things happened to me all at once. Health problems, a computer that kept going belly up (Windows Vista was developed by Dr. Gero, I'm certain of it) and my favorite aunt who died of cancer after a long and unfair battle she couldn't win. I love to write, but the past few weeks were very rough and I just wasn't feeling it. And even though I started updating again, it might take me a while to get back in the groove. New chapters may be plenty or rare and in between, it depends on my mood. I hope I haven't lost too many readers over this hiatus, but some things can't be helped.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Hidden Powers**

In a heartbeat, Bunny's power was amplified by the 'fist of the worlds'. Her strength, speed, even her senses increased as she focused all of her energy in that single, crucial instance.

"KAIOKEN!!!" she yelled, her power exploding around her form in a violent, red-hot aura. Catching Cell completely by surprise, she lunged at the monster and landed a vicious kick on his chin. The creature was sent flying up in the air, Bunny racing after him with lightning speed. Before he could regain his bearings, she appeared above him, using both fists to deliver a hammer punch to his chest and sending him crashing into the pavement below.

"Kame…" she began to chant, cupping her hands. "Hame…"

Bunny prepared to fire the attack, when she suddenly realized just how high up in the air she was suspended. Her hands began to tremble, the energy gathered in her palms fizzling away.

_Oh no_, she panicked, her teeth chattering uncontrollably and the world around her spinning out of control. _Oh no, oh no, oh no!!! HELP! SOMEONE GET ME DOWN!!!_

In that split second she was paralyzed with fear, Cell dashed up and grabbed her arm, flinging her back at the Earth. Bunny snapped out of her shock and managed to land on her feet, back flipping out of the way just in tome to dodge the monster's lethal tail. The two warriors from the future now stood face to face, eyeing each other warily.

_Kami__… it wasn't enough!_ Bunny thought grimly as she struggled to catch her breath. _But do I really dare go Kaioken times two? Mom told me never to go higher, but what other choice do I have!? Oh, crap…_

"Tell me… Bunny, I believe it was?" Cell started slyly. "Why did you and your unconscious friend travel back in time?"

Bunny's eyes widened in shock and she wasn't sure if she should deny it or not. However, the monster quickly eliminated that dilemma altogether.

"Don't try to deny it, girl," Cell said, taking out a book that he had wedged under one of his wings. Bunny couldn't read the title, but she instantly recognized the cover: it was Tsuru's history book.

_Damn you, crane boy!_ she silently cursed. Her rival had taken the book from his luggage at the diner in Nicky Town, but apparently had forgotten to put it back.

"And what if we did come from the future, huh?" Bunny narrowed her eyes, arching an eyebrow. "What's it to ya?"

"I'm simply being curious, my dear," he answered. "Which timeline did you come from? Mine, perhaps?"

"You're from the future too?!" Bunny blurted out, her eyes now big as dinner plates.

"You didn't know I came here in a time machine?" the monster frowned.

"Uh… sure I did," the girl quickly recovered. "I was just checking to see if _you_ knew!"

"… What?"

"What?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I have no idea anymore," Bunny sweatdropped. "I'm sort of winging it."

"You're an odd one, girl," Cell said, then chuckled. "'Wing' our battle as much as you want, the outcome stays the same. I will find out how you learned the Kamehameha wave and even the Kaioken."

"I'll never tell you," Bunny glared.

"I never asked you to," the monster grinned, arching his tail so the tip was aimed right at her. "I can do more with this than just absorb someone's energy, my dear. Though I rarely go through the trouble, it is possible for me to absorb their mind as well. And you'll be honored to know that I'm quite interested in yours."

All blood drained from Bunny's face when the monster approached, his metallic footsteps sending shivers down her spine. She quickly took a step back, wincing as her muscled protested at even the slightest bit of movement. The Kaioken had really done a number on her body, and Bunny knew she was going to be sore for quite a while. Cell chuckled, as if reading her mind.

"It looks like that Kaioken did more damage to you than it did to me. I doubt you even have the strength left to …"

"KAIOKEN TIMES TWO!!!"

Bunny didn't know if what came over her was renewed fighting spirit or utter desperation. But whatever it was, it caused her power to explode and engulf her body in a fiery crimson aura. She blasted at the monster, her fists mercilessly jack hammering in his stomach. She sent Cell flying with a spinning kick, dashing after him and elbowing him in the back. She the jumped up, hovering over his fallen form and raising her hands above her head.

"TORTOISE TORNADO!!!" Bunny screamed as she performed her mother's signature attack, thousands of exploding ki-blasts raining down on the monster and shrouding the battleground in a cloud of smoke and dust.

Bunny smiled weakly as she dropped out of Kaioken, but her face almost immediately contorted in pain. Every millimeter of her body was in utter agony and her organs felt like they were going to burst. Spots began to dance before her eyes and she felt the last of her strength leave her. Bunny dropped to the ground, landing on one knee. Gritting her teeth, she got up again, but her legs immediately began to buckle. And still, even after giving her all at Kaioken times two, she could hear those horrible, metallic footsteps coming from the dust.

"No… this isn't fair… this isn't fair!" she whimpered, her face pale as death itself. "What the hell are you made of?!"

"The correct question, my dear, would be who am I made of," Cell said, grinning. "I am an android, created by the great Doctor Gero by fusing cells taken from the greatest warriors to have ever lived."

"T-That's a lie!" Bunny protested, her voice a pitch higher than normal. "Gero only made two androids, numbers Seventeen and Eighteen, and they were both destroyed by Trunks before he died of the mutated viral heart disease!"

This time, it were Cell's eyes that widened in shock.

"… Viral heart disease?" he blinked. "It seems that certain events in your timeline transpired a bit differently than they have in mine."

"No shit, Sherlock," Bunny sweatdropped. "What happened to Trunks in your timeline then?"

"I killed him, stole his time machine and came here," the android explained in a tone as if talking to a five-year old.

Bunny instantly believed him. She didn't know why, but she always had a feeling that grandma Bulma and her parents had been lying to her. But why? What were they hiding? What wasn't she allowed to learn!?

"Well, now that I told something about myself, why not return the favor," Cell suggested slyly. "Tell me… what is your connection to Kameko Roshi? The Kamehameha is a quite common attack these days, but the same can't be said for that Tortoise Tornado you just performed."

Bunny's initial reaction would have been 'bite me!', weren't it for her severely weakened state. Her first Kaioken had really done a number on her system, and following it up with a Kaioken times two, in hindsight, had not been one of her brightest ideas. The girl was clutching onto a lamppost for support, her breathing labored and her eyes glazing over as she threatened to lose consciousness due to internal bleeding. Bunny highly doubted if even her unusual healing abilities were a match for injuries so grave as these, but she knew she had to try.

"Kameko Roshi is my mentor," Bunny answered. "She and her father have trained me since I was a little girl and taught me everything I know."

Rather than denying everything and only increasing his curiosity, Bunny decided to feed the android selective parts of the truth. This would not only reduce the risk of future slipups, but it would also buy her precious time.

_Barking dogs don__'t bite!_ Bunny thought feverishly. _I have to keep him talking!_

"Assuming Kameko did not start passing on her teachings before she left for this timeline, this must mean I perished," Cell mused, narrowing his snakelike eyes. "Otherwise she would have never made it back home alive."

"I wouldn't know," Bunny admitted, then sighed sadly and lowered her gaze. "Kameko never even told me she went to the past in the first place. I wonder what else there is I'm not allowed to know… and why?!"

She was talking more to herself than the android. Even though her head felt light from blood loss, her mind was still reeling with questions. Questions about her mother, Trunks' death, the timeline, and Cell himself.

"Well, I suppose I should proceed with caution then, until I have reached my perfect form. Fortunately, your energy shall help me achieve that goal much sooner than I anticipated. Though I assume you wish to use some of it for one last desperate attack?"

Bunny considered it, but knew that if she attempted to lunge at the android now, she would be dead before her feet had left the ground. Her vision was already blurring, and the girl began to realize that, even if her body could heal on it's own, it would take more time than she could ever hope to buy.

"I give up," Bunny sighed after a long silence, her voice not sad or angry, but just incredibly tired. "I wish I could run or go down fighting, but even breathing hurts like hell… So I guess I'm out of options."

"Indeed," Cell grinned darkly, raising his tail. "Well then, I'm glad you finally realize the futility of your efforts. Time to absorb…"

"Not so fast, stabby," she interrupted him. "Surely even you have some honor as a warrior? How about a last request?"

"That depends," the android folded his arms. "What did you have in mind, my dear?"

"Tell me everything mo… my mentor didn't," she pleaded. "Who are you? What are you?! Why did you come here, what is your purpose? What is this perfection you keep speaking of? And why is nothing in this messed up timeline what it's supposed to be?!"

Cell seemed to think it over, then shrugged his shoulders and lowered his tail.

"Alright then. How can I refuse a meaningless last wish?"

The android began to tell his tale, a story that went even beyond Bunny's wildest dreams. The more the android spoke, the more she realized her family had been hiding from her. She listened bewildered to Cell's stories about planet Namek, Frieza the Ice-jin and how he himself had been created from their cells. However, what fascinated her most was his tale about an alien warrior race called the "Sayains", of which her grandmother's husband had been the prince! Even Goku, the legendary warrior who had been trained by her grandfather, had been one. Though she had heard about the Z-fighters, her parents never mentioned that some of them weren't human. Accidentally… or on purpose?

_Mom__… Dad… grandpa… grandma… uncle Oolong… why didn't you tell me we aren't alone in the universe? Are you aliens too? Am I one? I love you and I wish I could trust you, but Cell isn't lying. I don't know why, but I can feel it. I can __feel__ it._

"Well then, is everything clear to you now?" Cell said, snapping her out of her shock.

"Not yet," she said quickly when she saw his tail rising again. "Why did you kill Trunks and hijack his time machine? What did you come here for?"

"You're an inquisitive one, aren't you?" he chuckled. "Alright, I suppose I can answer this last one. The good Doctor's computer told me that absorbing human energies alone will not be enough to achieve perfection. In order to complete my evolution and reach my ultimate form, I need to absorb androids Seventeen and Eighteen. I've hunted all over the planet for them, but somehow I was always one step behind. After months of fruitless searching, I discovered that they had been destroyed by Trunks. I thought all hope was lost, when I learned that Miss Briefs had build her son a time machine. I killed him, took the contraption and used it to travel back to a time when my dear androids are still alive and well. And once I find the twins and absorb them into my system, I will be the strongest being that has ever lived!"

"But why?!" Bunny exclaimed. "With the Z-fighters dead and the androids destroyed, you were already the strongest one there in our timeline!"

"Because I _can_, my dear," Cell smiled cruelly. "Most likely it's the blood of Frieza and his father flowing through my veins, or that of Piccolo and Vegeta perhaps. Though I possess DNA from both good and evil forces, the computer made some genetic traits more dominant in my design than others."

_Saiyans, Nameks, Ice-jinn, androids__… I think my brain is going to explode!_ Bunny thought, then realized there was still one more thing she needed to know.

"One more question!" she yelped as the android poised his tail to strike. "Kameko… what is she doing here?"

"She came here to stop me, apparently," Cell answered duly, but Bunny could hear his patience was wearing thin. "And to warn Trunks of his imminent demise. Your mentor will fail though, I can safely assure you that."

_Mom is going to kick your ass, or else I wouldn__'t have been born!_ Bunny wanted to yell, but she stopped herself at the last moment.

"Now then, enough of this chitchat. Let's end it here," Cell said, as he continued to stalk closer. Bunny desperately tried to move, but she felt her legs give out, her body sinking to the street. The girl weakly tried to pull herself up again, but her hand slipped from the lamppost and fell limply to her side. Bunny could only watch as Cell broke into a run, the distance between the rapidly growing smaller. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, bracing herself for the android's deadly tail.

_Mom__… dad… grandpa… I'm so sorry. I failed you all. Even you, Tsuru. You may be an asshole, but I'm sorry I couldn't save you… I'm sorry that not even my mother's Kaioken times two was enough to rid the world of this monster. What kind of Z-fighter am I if I can't even handle this sorry excuse for a science project?! Kami, what the hell am I doing here? What the hell were we thinking!? We got in way over our heads and now this timeline will be our grave._ Bunny choked back a sob, tears flowing from her closed shut eyes. _I just want to go home!_ she panicked, her power rising as images of her family and friends appeared in her mind. _I just want to go home… I WANT TO GO HOME!!!_

There was screaming, a blinding flash of light. Bunny felt her insides being rearranged, her stomach doing a barrelrol as her body was jerked out of harm's way by an invisible force. Suddenly she felt how the rocky surface beneath her feet was replaced by smooth metal, a bloodied hand being firmly grasped by her own.

"What…?" Bunny mumbled utterly confused as she opened her eyes. Her brain slowly registered that she was holding her unconscious archrival, who's body lay limply at feet. Her gaze moved up, where it fell on a surprised group of people that was staring back at her. Bunny blinked once, twice. Then her body finally gave out and collapsed next to that of her rival.


	7. Family Reunion

**A/N:** After a long and much needed hiatus, I'm back! To keep a long story short: I haven't been feeling so hot the past few months, but I'm doing much better now and my inspiration is slowly starting to return. Updates will still be irregular, but at least the story is back on track again (and so am I). Thank you all for your support and staying with me all this time. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 7: Family Reunion**

Bunny opened her eyes, but immediately closed them again as pain exploded through her head. She tried to slip back into unconsciousness, but to no avail. Where was she anyway?

"Hey, you finally awake? Drink this, it will help," a voice told her. Bunny felt a warm liquid against her lips and took a sip, her pain instantly numbing. A few more sips and she could feel her strength slowly returning.

"It's not a Senzu bean, we only have a few left and we're saving those for life threatening cases. Tea brew from the leaves of the Senzu plant can still perk you up quite nicely though."

Bunny gratefully finished the cup, each drop restoring more of her energy and helping her body heal. The pain subsided and she could finally open her eyes. The man who had helped her smiled warmly. It was strange… with his black hair that defied all laws of gravity and onyx eyes that gleamed with an almost playful mischievousness, he looked absolutely nothing like her dad. And yet there was something about him… something about that strong, but friendly aura that reminded Bunny of her father.

But wait… they saved the beans for life threatening cases? She had been on the brink of death! After two subsequent Kaioken attacks, one of which had been a double, it was a miracle she was even breathing! Or had her mangled insides managed to heal themselves somehow? Was that even possible?

"Where… what… how long…?" she uttered, her mind still reeling. The man looked at her and though his energy wasn't hostile, Bunny felt increasingly uncomfortable under his gaze.

"You were out for almost twelve hours, kiddo. You have no idea how you got here, do you?"

Bunny shook her head, then suddenly her eyes widened.

"Tsuru!" she panicked, scrambling to get out of bed. "Oh Kami, we have to save him! I mean he's my archrival and a real dick and all, but if Cell vacuums him up his tail, he's gonna have his memories about me and…"

"Slow down there, kiddo!" the man interrupted her. "If you're talking about your buddy, he's okay. Or… well… alive, at least. We was already acting extremely hostile from the moment he woke up, but when Tien and Chiaotzu entered the room with a cup of Senzu tea, the guy suddenly snapped and attacked them for no reason. We had to knock him out again before thing got ugly. Maybe he'll be in a better mood later."

"Tien?" Bunny blinked. "Chiaotzu?"

Suddenly she remembered where she heard those names before. Chiaotzu, Tien; two former crane school students who had denounced their master's evil ways and joined the Z-fighers. No wonder her rival had been pissed; disciples of the crane school did not take kindly to 'traitors', especially if said traitors tried to help them. For a proud crane student like Tsuru, few things could be more humiliating.

"You're still a bit out of it, huh?" the man asked, smiling friendly, placing a hand on head. "Don't worry, my race is telepathic. I'll just read your thoughts and…"

As if stung by a hornet, Bunny swatted his hand away and leaped out of bed.

"Hey! Those are private, bucko!" she snapped. "You think you can just waltz in here and go through my memories? I don't even know your name!"

"Oops… hehe, I guess that would be a bit rude, huh?" the man laughed sheepishly. "My name is Goku, nice to meet you."

Bunny's eyes widened and her lips parted in a small 'o'. This… _this_ was the legendary Son Goku? Best friend of her grandmother and savior of the world?

"But you're supposed to be dead…" Bunny uttered, confused. "The virus… or is this the alternate timeline Trunks created? That would explain why Tsuru's history book didn't say anything about that monster, because he wasn't in the original one. Not for another 24 years or so, at least. Kami, this is getting complicated…"

"Whoa, slow down," Goku interrupted her. "You're losing me, kiddo."

"I'm losing myself," she moaned. "And I still don't know where I am or how I got here!"

"Then let's put our heads together," he smiled warmly, putting a hand on the side of her face. This time, Bunny allowed it. Even if she only knew him for a couple of minutes, one look in Goku's eyes was enough to know she could trust him with her life.

As Bunny felt the Saiyan read her memories, she was granted a glimpse through his eyes. How he fell sick during the battle with a puffy android called Nineteen, and the evil Doctor Gero himself. How Seventeen and Eighteen had decided to play a game of 'hunt the Saiyan', forcing the gang to move him to Kame House. How her mother, uncle Oolong and a young girl name Videl came to them seeking protection from Cell. How they realized that not even Kame House was safe and decided to hide in Bulma's secret underground shelter. And finally, how a certain green-haired girl had suddenly teleported into the living room, her eyes wide with fear and panic, her left hand tightly clutching an unconscious, dark-haired boy with blood running down his temple…

"I don't remember any of that," Bunny mumbled distraught. "I remember my body shutting down after that double kaioken… Cell charging at me… and then suddenly I was here."

"I wouldn't know what happened, I can't look at a memory if it isn't there," Goku shrugged, then suddenly broke into a wide grin. "So, you're Kameko's daughter, huh?"

"Shh!" Bunny hissed wide-eyed. "Keep it to yourself, will ya! It's bad enough Tsuru knows, but I don't want anyone else here to find out, especially not my mom!"

"Right, got ya," the Saiyan nodded, then snickered. "I can't believe Tao had a kid. Bwahaha!"

"Quiet!" Bunny urged him. "If you rat him out, he'll blow my cover for sure! We're not exactly on the best of terms you know."

"Don't worry, if I can keep Trunks' parentage a secret for three years, I should manage you two kids," Goku said, then frowned. "Kameko doesn't have to know, but I think its better to tell the others. We have to get you and Tsuru back to your own timeline as soon as possible. In the mean time, I think it's better if you stay here and lay low. Cell knows about your power now, and from what I've learned about him so far, he'll stop at nothing to obtain it."

Bunny nodded bleakly, realizing that the Saiyan was right. Cell was a predator, and he would not so easily allow his prey to slip from his grasp.

"Hey," she started hesitantly. "If you do tell your friends about me and Tsuru, would you mind asking them to watch their mouths around Cell? If he finds out Kameko is my mom, he'll kill her for sure!"

"He'll probably try to kill her anyway, but…"

"You're not helping," Bunny sweatdropped.

"Don't worry about it, I'll make sure they keep quiet. In the meantime, why don't you wash up and put on some clean clothes? You'll feel better," Goku smiled. "You can join us in the living room when you're ready and we'll have a bite to eat."

The prospect of food made Bunny's worried face brighten up like a light bulb. Next thing he knew, the Saiyan found himself in the hallway with the door slammed shut in his face, while he could hear the girl turn on the shower and decapsulating her luggage. The friendly smile left his face as his thoughts returned to the things he had seen in her head. When he said he could not see all her memories, he had not been completely honest. Though hazy and fragmented, Goku had seen how Bunny had escaped the menacing monster and ended up at Capsule Corporation's secret base.

_Instant transmission_, the Saiyan worried. _The girl somehow used my instant transmission technique and she doesn't even know it!_

That wasn't even the biggest of his concerns though. There was another memory of the youngster's battle against Cell, one that had been buried deep in the darkest bowels of her subconscious. The android attacked… struck her arm… and she blew him away with an almost monstrous display of power, leveling half of Nicky Town in the process. He had seen that attack before… and heard the cold, alien tongue that she hissed before firing.

_Frieza…_

Goku could sense the girl wasn't evil and honestly didn't remember any of her own remarkable actions. But still, the Saiyan was worried was about her. Perhaps even more than about the androids themselves. And so for the time being, he decided that the less the confused girl knew about her hidden powers, the better.

The gang sat in the living room in an uncomfortable silence. Partly because Bunny had been stupid enough to get into a fight with Vegeta over the last ham sandwich (and lost), partly because Tsuru had not touched any of the food and did nothing but brood in a corner, staring darkly at Chiaotzu and Tien. He knew now that they could both easily defeat him, but that didn't stop the boy from shooting them his coldest, most hateful glare.

"Hey Goku, I bet Bulma is going to be so excited to see you've woken up once she and Kameko return from their shopping trip," Krillin said in an attempt to break the silence. "After all, didn't her future self work for years on her time machine to save you?"

"Make no mistake, we're not out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot," Trunks said grimly. "Goku may have survived the heart virus, but Seventeen and Eighteen are much stronger than their counterparts in my timeline, and even if Goku beats them, that still leaves Sixteen and Cell to deal with."

"Awesome. We're screwed," Bunny sweatdropped. "Well, at least you're still alive, Trunks. In my timeline, you weren't so lucky."

"Yes, Goku told us," the boy nodded, but he eyed her warily.

"…What?" Bunny asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"It's just that… Look, I believe mother told you that I died of a mutated version of the virus that killed Goku, but…"

"But what?" the girl pressed.

"It's impossible," Trunks shook his head. "When Goku got sick, mom spend day and night researching the virus and looking for a cure. You see, there were plenty of humans that got sick from it, but not nearly as bad as Goku. None of them died, and Chi Chi who had the closest contact with him, only fell ill for about a week and got better on her own. The symptoms were no worse than a serious cold." He fell silence and his face darkened. "It turns out that the virus is relatively harmless to Earthlings and Goku only died because he didn't possess a natural human immunity to it."

"But then… oh no…" Bunny said, her face paling.

"Yes," Trunks nodded. "I might not be fully human, but enough to have inherited my mother's human immune system. Even if the virus did mutate, I shouldn't have died. A normal human would have gotten sick for a few days before adapting to the new strain, and I myself would surely have been out of the running or at least three months due to my Saiyan genes, but _dying_ from the infection? I seriously doubt it."

"Grandma Bulma lied then… and so did my parents," Bunny mumbled, more to herself than to the Saiyan.

"Hey, your mom is cool, I'm sure she did it for a reason," Videl said. "Speaking about your folks, who did she hook up with?"

"A wuss," came a snickering voice from the shadows. "What guy lets his _wife_ do all the fighting when their kid is in danger?"

"Oh, like your dad is such a hotshot at the battlefield!" Bunny snapped at her rival. "Maybe my parents just more emancipated than that dumbass father of yours."

"At least my father took the time to train me!"

"And at least my dad doesn't look like a cheap R2D2 rip-off someone dug up at the junkyard!"

"Die, turtle girl!"

"Bring it on, crane boy!"

The two teens lunged at each other and rolled over the floor, pulling hairs and exchanging a flurry of punches.

"Hey, take it easy, you two!" Yamcha tried, but he got knocked over by the fighting rivals, along with Bulma's coffee table. Finally, a certain Namek could no longer take the noise and decided to step in.

"Alright, that's enough, break it up!" he barked, grabbing Tsuru's neck with one green skinned hand and Bunny's ankle with the other, stretching his arms to keep them apart. Startled by Piccolo's display of strength, they stopped fighting for about two whole seconds. Then they resumed flinging curse words at each other and frantically squirmed to get out of the Namek's hold.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTHS OR I'LL WRING BOTH YOUR SCRAWNY NECKS!" Piccolo yelled, startling everyone.

"Dude! Turn it down a notch, will ya?" Tsuru sweatdropped.

"Yeah, what if the androids hear you?" Bunny said.

"And then your folks said we were being careless, turtle girl…"

"No kidding, crane boy. No wonder everyone kicked the bucket back home."

A vein was now throbbing on Piccolo's temple and the Namek looked like he was about to have a seizure from sheer rage.

"Listen you two," he growled. "If you want to have any hope of surviving, you need to put your childish bickering aside and start working together against the greater foe."

"You?"

"Cell!"

"He's not the one holding me upside down by the ankle!"

"For the love of…!"

"Like hell will I ever join forces with someone from the Turtle School," Tsuru scoffed, narrowing his eyes. "I made that mistake once and it nearly got me killed."

"Hey, I _saved_ your sorry ass, crane boy!" Bunny protested, but her rival shook his head.

"I'm done hanging around with you and the rest of 'Chez Loser' down here. I'm going to find my dad and uncle Tsuru and we'll show the world how_ true_ warriors handle things."

Without warning, the crane disciple took a smoke bomb from his pocket and threw it on the floor, using the confusion that followed to his advantage.

"Augh! What the hell?"

"Dammit, I can't see!"

"Someone open a window!"

"There aren't any!"

"Roshi, get your hands of my chest or I'll do it for you!"

"It was an accident, Chi Chi! Honest! ARGH! NOT THE FACE! NOT THE FACE!"

"That little brat!" Tien coughed, rubbing his eyes. "He made a run for it!"

"Let the boy go. We can't force him to stay here against his will, even if it would be for his own good," Goku sighed.

"Well, I'm not bailing him out of trouble, and neither is Chiaotzu," Tien scoffed, annoyed.

Suddenly they heard sounds on the surface, the sound of someone opening the secret hatch and making their way down the underground shelter.

"Hah, he's crawling back already," Bunny smirked. "I knew that wimp wouldn't…"

Her smirk faded instantly when the door to the living room flung open and Bulma came stumbling inside. The woman looked horrible, her clothes were torn, her normally so pristine hairdo was a mess, blood ran from a puncture wound in her neck and her eyes were wide with fear.

"Bulma!" Goku exclaimed. "Oh Kami, what happened? Where's Kameko?"

"C-Cell," his lifelong friend uttered. "H-he… and then I… and then she… Goku, you have to save her! Cell's going to k-kill…!"

Suddenly her eyes rolled back in her head and Bulma fainted in his arms.

"Vegeta, take care of Bulma. I'm going to get Kameko."

"Right," the Prince said, for once not protesting. He took his unconscious wife from the younger Saiyan's hands as the latter rushed through the doors and into the outside world, where he could better sense the girl's power. She was still alive, but her energy was fading rapidly. There wasn't much time.

"Goku, what are you doing?" Chi Chi panicked. "You can't go fight that thing, you just got out of bed!"

"Goku, don't listen! You can't let Cell kill my mom!" Bunny protested after following the Saiyan and his wife to the surface.

"If he goes now, they'll both get killed!"

"If he doesn't go, Cell will absorb mom's memories about our hideout, come here and kill us ALL!"

"She does make a good point there, honey," Goku smiled sheepishly. "Besides that… what if it was Gohan out there? Would you still want me to stay?"

"Dammit… just be careful, okay?" Chi Chi sighed. Goku smiled at her and then suddenly vanished in thin air. It didn't take him long to return with the unconscious woman in his arms. There wasn't a part of her that wasn't covered in bruises and there was a large hole in her back that dripped blood through the Saiyan's fingers.

"We have to get her inside, Chi Chi get…"

"Get a Senzu, way ahead of you," the woman nodded grimly, rushing back down the shelter. Bunny didn't follow him: at the first sight of her mother, she had fainted on the spot.


End file.
